The difference working together makes
by Hard-headed-woman
Summary: Sequel to 'The difference one more makes'. The battle is over but the war has just begun. Can the Avengers look past each others flaws and masks, and work together? Or will their newest threat destroy them and everything they hold dear? SLASH. COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

The day was starting out the same way as any other.

Waking to the alarm clock beeping away, a stripe pyjama clad arm snaked its way out from under the feather down doona, and gently clicked the aging machine off. Stretching, dark blue eyes stared up at the dull grey ceiling for a moment and reflected over the last couple of days.

The Chitari incident had been blown all over the social media, making it impossible for the Council to sweep it under a government cover-up and wrap it up with a bogus lie. Instead the group of leaders had left it to Director Fury to sort out. A decision that they had later come to regret.

Fury had given the group of assassins and superheros free reign over what they wanted to reveal, and in true Stark fashion, Tony had called a press meeting without notifying anyone else, and revealed not only his part in the whole debacle to the world, but the presence of the others that fought with him, and how they were there to save the day.

"_-we're called the Avengers. Why? Because if we can't save the world; then we'll damn sure avenge it!"_

Fury and Steve had torn into the child prodigy for that stint, but like usual, Tony had flicked them off and poured himself another drink.

Deciding that it was time get up and ready for the day, the man pushed back the covers and made his way to the bathroom.

The cleanup of the city had not taken long, considering the resources SHIELD had at their disposal. It had been just over a week since the battle for New York had taken place, and the city was back to moving to its own beat again. There were the believers, the sceptics, and the non-carers, but they all still moved on, just like they always had been.

Sneering at the mirror, deep blue eyes watched meticulously as the toothbrush made its way through his mouth, foaming up the teeth with each motion. Spitting out the nasty tasting necessity, the man slapped his recently shaved face, before making his way back into the bedroom and quickly changing.

The most recent work related injury to his body had finally healed to the point that he could return to his job, and he was not going to waste any time. Picking up the duffle bag he had packed the night before, steady feet made their way down the hall and into the study. Pulling out the set of keys he kept on him at all times, calloused hands clicked open the hidden safe, and pulled out the top secret files from within.

This was the last time he would be in his house for awhile, and the last thing he needed, was for someone to break in and find information that could bring down the government, or implode the national security.

Taking one last glance at the empty house he barely spent time in, Phil Coulson switched the alarm system on and walked out of the unassuming front door. Nodding politely to the driver waiting for him, Phil jumped into the simple black SUV, and put his seatbelt on.

He had some children to take care of.

* * *

The repairs on the Avenger's Tower were coming along not at all how Tony had hoped. Sweaty teamsters filled his inner sanctuary, leaving the smell of cheap booze and bolognas sandwiches in their wake. But if that was all, then he could have dealt with it.

No.

Throw in a whiny archer, an over protective red head, one absolutely clueless super soldier, a secretary that had yet to return from overseas, and a still comatose husband; and the Stark was one wound up CEO.

Flapping his hands at the scruffy workman that was trying to corner him, Tony sidestepped the mess that was soon to be the entertainment room, and slid into the elevator. Pressing the button that would take him to the first floor of R&D, Tony groaned loudly and shook his body out. The only reason he had been up there was because he needed the plans for the Green room that had somehow been sent up there by mistake.

Stepping out of the elevator as the doors opened, Tony stalked his way through the room without his usual flair, and to the bench that he had last been sitting at. Spreading the sheets across the bench top, the brunette reached for his pencil and began to dance across the paper, making notes and changes every once in a while.

"Tony?"

Jumping, Tony whirled around, his eyes wide, to catch the sight of Bruce sitting at one of the many computers. Hoping that the surprise he'd shown wasn't too much, Tony plastered his trademark paparazzi grin, and leant against the table casually.

"Hey Bruice-boy," he beamed, ignoring the scowl he received in return. "Whatcha up to?"

Wrinkling his nose at the nick name, Bruce put down the pencil and pad he had been working with, and eyed the man across from him. "Wondering what is wrong with you." He replied.

"Me?" Tony scoffed. "There's nothing wrong with me."

Raising an eyebrow, Bruce pointed at the ruffled shirt and jeans, and mocked. "So you just wander around in the same clothes for three days straight?"

Glancing down at the Judas Priest shirt he was wearing, Tony tilted his head slightly. "I have not," he pouted.

"You have too." Standing from his stool, Bruce made his way around the computer desk, and stood in front of the unamused genius. "Tony, since we got here, I've seen you eat maybe three times, and sleep only when you passed out that first night."

Waving the scientist's worries away like they were merely moths, Tony went to turn back to his work, but halted at the feeling of a strong hand grasping his shoulder. Forcing the stubborn man to turn around, Bruce stared him in the eye and huffed.

"I don't understand what you're going through," he admitted, hoping that the idiot would listen to him.

Shrugging off the hold the shorter man had on him, Tony wheeled back around. "Then don't try."

"Tony we're all worried about yo-"

"No you're not!"

Running a hand through his greasy hair, the genius closed his eyes against the world. Picking up the papers he had just retrieved from upstairs, Tony pushed his way past the man he had come to see as a true friend, and moved towards the elevator once more.

"At least have a shower," Bruce cried out, watching as his only friend left the room. "Even Natasha's complaining about the stink."

* * *

Making his way through the foyer, Coulson nodded at the agents standing guard, and walked up to the elevator with as much confidence as his position held. Pressing the button for the level he had been told was the Avenger's temporary living space, Coulson took the time to compose himself and decide on how best to handle the people he requested to be charged with.

Clint and Natasha would be the easiest. They had worked together for a long time, and Clint had often referred to him as their Mother Hen, keeping them safe under his wing when a higher up tried to have a go at them, and reprimanding them once they were out of earshot.

Steve would follow suite, not wanting to go against orders. And Bruce would be of the same persuasion, most likely ready to do whatever SHIELD requested, as long as it didn't involve a steel box and sharp needles. No, the one he would have the most trouble with, would be Stark.

Picking his duffle bag back up by the strap, Phil stepped out into the hallway when the doors dinged open, and made his way through the floor, into the lounge. The first one to notice his presence was naturally Clint.

Sitting on the back of the couch as he watched some random show, the brunette turned to see who had come out of the lift, and tumbled off his perch when he saw.

"Phil!"

Stumbling out of position he had landed in, the archer leaped across the room and embraced the agent.

"Fury told us that you were nearly killed," he exclaimed, shifting his hold on the man so he now had him by his head. "And then Harry told us that you were fine, but then we didn't see you, and Nat was so worried, and- Oh god! Nat she'll want to see you! We need to-"

Chuckling at the younger man's enthusiasm, Coulson pried his face out of the archer's grip, and patted him on the back. "It's good to see you too, Clint," he smiled, hoping that the quick wince of pain went unnoticed by the other. "Where are the others?"

Taking the duffle bag with his unbandaged arm, Clint motioned for Coulson to follow him as he stalked back into the living room.

"They're either comatose, in the lab or getting packed for the move," he explained, sitting the bag on the table. "Did you need to speak to us before we leave?"

Nodding, Coulson sat in the chair provided to him, as the brunette called out to Jarvis and asked him to gather everyone. Taking in the post-futuristic design of the room; obviously of Miss Pott's influence, the agents waited as one by one the team made their way into the room. Bruce was the first, sending a shy smile at the man, before sitting down at the other end of the table. Steve followed suit, carrying with him his army issued duffle bag and shield. Shaking the Captain's hand, Coulson forced down the blush that threatened to take over his face when the blonde smiled warmly at him and required as to his health. Natasha walked in as the pair were settling into a light hearted conversation, and promptly tackled the agent from where he stood.

Mindful of the still smarting injury in the man's chest, the red head squeezed Coulson as hard as she could, before letting go.

"Don't you ever scare us like that again," she growled, her hazel eyes flashing.

Nodding, Coulson gave her a weak smile, and motioned for her to sit down. Sliding into the seat beside Clint, Natasha did a quick glance over the group, and pursed her lips. "Where's Stark? Finally slumped over in exhaustion?"

Shrugging, Bruce opened his mouth to reply, but snapped it shut again when said man appeared out of nowhere. Rubbing a dark blue, monogrammed towel through his hair, Tony made his way past the group and into the kitchen.

"Are you happy now, Killer Queen?" he announced, rummaging through the cupboard until he came across a box of froot loops. "You will no longer suffocate from my manly musk."

Snorting, Natasha eyed the clueless genius that was stuffing his face, and mocked. "Yes, very happy. I'm sure Coulson wouldn't have wanted us to dump you in the river after all."

Swallowing the particularly large mouthful of cereal, Tony sputtered at the thought of being dumped in the river, before the rest of the sentence caught up and floored him. Mentally ticking off each person at the table as people that were supposed to be there, chocolate brown eyes widened for a second as they focused on the smirking agent sitting at the head. Racing around the bench, Tony pulled the man up by his shirt and stared at him.

"Oh my," he exclaimed. "You're not an apparition. Embrace me!"

Startled by the usually eccentric; but mostly stand-offish, man, Coulson tapped the brunette awkwardly on the back a few times, before forcing the taller man to let him go.

"Oh this calls for a celebration!" Shuffling over to the bar he had had installed beside the window, Tony began to pull out glasses and bottles. "The little green Leprechaun is gone, Coulson's back, and I just went in for a shower. Oh, this is a joyous day-"

"Stark sit down."

Not able to ignore that tone in his present state, Tony immediately dropped to the floor and stared up at the man with big, round eyes. Eyeing the brunette for a moment to make sure that he would stay there, Coulson ripped his gaze away and turned it back to the now highly amused group in front of him.

"How long has it been since he last slept?"

Smirking down at the billionaire that was now back to eating his cereal from its box; Bruce shrugged. "When was the battle?"

"Five days ago."

"Then that's your answer."

Feeling the start of a headache in his temples, Coulson sent a sharp look at the genius as he threw a loop at the back of Steve's head, and continued. "Now, as you are all very well aware, you are to be leaving today. This is so that the building can be repaired and remodelled into the Avenger's home base. Mr Stark has been kind enough to offer his home in Malibu until you can all return."

Waiting for Clint's excitement to die down, Coulson shot another quick glance at Stark to make sure that he was still there.

"What you haven't been informed of, though," he continued, frowning as he watched the engineer place the froot loops on the carpet in lines, determined by colour. "Is that the only way the Council would allow the Avenger's Initiative to continue, was if there was a SHIELD agent running liaison."

"What?"

"That's not fair-"

"-me and Nat are agents!"

"-some stuck up ponce in my house-"

Raising his hand for quiet, dark blue eyes waited until the outraged group settled back down, and continued.

"As I was saying," he persisted, the tone in his voice demanding that they all listened. "You will have an agent with you from this point on, no matter how much you bemoan against it."

Rolling his eyes, Tony stood back up and walked back into the kitchen; his froot loop army laying forgotten. "Oh yay," He whooped sarcastically. "And which stuck up, wannabe adrenaline junkie is going to be our nanny?"

"I am."


	2. Chapter 2

After packing the last of their possessions, removing Tony kicking and screaming from his latest project, and making sure that the builders understood what needed to be done, Coulson had ushered the team into a waiting SUV, and accompanied them to the closest airport. People stopped and stared at the motley group, but no-one tried to pull them up. Shuffling the team into a corner just off to the side, Phil pulled a blank yellow envelope out of his jacket pocket, and tapped it against his other hand.

"SHIELD has provided us with tickets on the next flight out," he explained, ignoring the group of giggly teens that had just noticed the scruffy looking Stark. "We'll be in Business and-"

Pulling his attention away from the blushing girls and back to the man in front of him, Tony frowned. "What? Yeah- no that's not happening."

Rolling his eyes, Steve glared at the brunette. "Tony," he muttered, not wishing to cause a scene. "Unless you want to drive, this is the only way we're getting there."

"I agree Capsicle," Tony smirked, patting the agitated blonde on the shoulder, mockingly. "But it won't be on that plane."

Plucking the tickets from the annoyed agent's fingers, Tony sauntered over to the waiting bay for the commercial flight to Malibu, and glanced around. Not sure what the idiot was up to, the group watched in interest and slight agitation, as the engineer made his way up to a random family that seemed to be having trouble with their luggage, and grinned. Talking to the father that was holding onto a little girl, Tony handed the envelope over to the stunned man, and signed something to the stewardess that had just walked out to call for passengers. Shooing the shocked family away, Tony made his way back to the group, and whipped out his phone.

"Stark, do you know what you just did?" Natasha fumed, watching as the still confused father handed over their tickets and ushered his family through the terminal.

"Yeah, I just gave a little girl that doesn't have very long to live, a one of kind holiday. Excuse me for a sec- Hey Happy, is the jet ready?"

Raising an eyebrow at the man that should for all intents and purposes be passed out on the floor, the red head turned to the others in question. Taking pity, Bruce motioned to the doors the family had just walked through, and murmured. "From the looks of it, the little girl had some form of cancer; Leukaemia most likely."

Clint tilted his head. "How did you know? How did Stark know?"

"Her size for one," Bruce replied, fidgeting with the strap of his bag. "One common problem with cancer patients is that they usually lose a lot of weight because of their medication. By how much she's lost, and the grey colouring of her skin, I'd probably say that the doctors told her parents that the medication is no longer working, and that the best they can do is spend the remaining time she has doing something together as a family, and away from the hospital."

Glancing sadly at the now closed doors, the group almost jumped when an excited Stark appeared out of nowhere, and ushered them towards the airport entrance.

"Happy said we're all good to go. Harry's loaded up and the jet's fuelled, so let's go."

Not sure what to say, the group followed the spontaneous genius through the car park and towards the section cornered off for private jets.

* * *

Streaking through the sky, Steve glanced out the window, took in the shimmering lights of the cities below. The plane had been in motion for a good hour, and the only people that did not seem to be visiting dreamland, was Coulson and himself.

Glancing over at the brunette half laying, half cuddling the sleeping form of Bruce Banner, Steve let out a quiet chuckle. The moment they had stepped foot in the jet, Tony had grabbed the poor scientist by the wrist, and exclaimed loudly that Bruce was his teddy, and forced him to sit down next to him in the back. Not five minutes later, snores were heard.

Clint had passed out not much later, the painkillers Natasha had forced down his throat taking their affect. Steve wasn't overly sure if the red head was awake or not, but seeing as he hadn't seen any movement in their corner for the last half an hour, he wouldn't be surprised.

Harry was the only member he couldn't easily catch sight of, but that was mainly because of Tony's severe case of paranoia, and wanting to make the comatose man as comfortable as possible. So instead of being in the main section with the rest of them, the still recovering wizard was resting in the room that Tony had quite happily labelled as his 'mile high' room.

Glancing over at the agent currently perusing some classified document, Steve coughed politely. Snapping out of his tunnel vision, Coulson blinked his eyes a couple of times, and turned to face the Captain.

"Sorry Mr Rogers," he murmured politely, keeping his voice down to not wake the kids. "Did you say something?"

Shaking his head, Steve felt bad for interrupting the man from his job. "Sorry Coulson. I was just bored, you can go back to your work."

Closing the folder, Coulson sent the blonde a small grin. "I was just going over a report that was supposed to have been dealt with months ago. Nothing serious, what did you want to talk about?"

Shrugging, Steve twisted in his seat so he could face the agent better, and motioned to everything. "I don't know," he admitted. "The team, you, SHIELD, I don't know, pick one."

Chuckling lightly, Coulson shifted as well, and eyed the man in front of him with mirth. "That doesn't exactly help."

"I know." Stifling his laughter, Steve glanced around for a topic, and said the first thing that came to his mind. "How much longer do you think Harry will be out?"

Sobering instantly, Coulson felt his forehead tighten, and his shoulders tense. Noticing the change, Steve waved his hands at the man. "No, I'm sorry,- I just thought-"

Holding his own hand up to placate the blonde, Phil tilted the corners of his lips up ever so slightly. "No, it's ok." Glancing at the back of the jet, where the door hiding the wizard was located, Coulson sighed. "I honestly don't know. He's never been out for this long."

"So he's been out like this before?"

Raising an eyebrow at the unhidden excitement in the soldier's voice, Phil nodded. "It was a year after I had first met him. We had worked together briefly before, but this was something different altogether. What we didn't know, was that the group that we had been sent to take down, were rogue mutants. If Harry hadn't been there, then the entire warehouse would have collapsed, killing everyone inside; mutant or not."

"That doesn't explain how he goes into a non-responsive state," Steve frowned, eating every word that the other said. "I read about these 'mutants' in the paper. I don't believe that they're all bad, but is it a possibility that one of them did something to Harry that had a lasting effect?"

Shaking his head, Coulson glanced over at the others, and frowned when he noticed a set of hazel eyes staring right back.

"Harry explained it to me when he woke," he continued, knowing that the woman would get the information out of someone later anyways. "You see, there's this entire magical world immersed with ours that hardly anyone knows about. They are just as human as us, they just have a magical core added into the mix. The core's size varies from wizard to witch, but it is still all theirs. Think of a battery; when the power drains, the battery has to be recharged to be able to work again. That's the same with their cores. When they use too much, their bodies force them into a deep sleep, so their cores can recharge. Harry is an extremely powerful wizard with a very large core, but he still has to dictate to the laws of his kind. He used a lot of power during the battle and beforehand, I wouldn't be surprised if he almost drained it."

Nodding in understanding, Steve lent back in his seat, and mused over this new information. "I owe him my life," he admitted after a while, startling the agent once more. Natasha having fallen back asleep. "I wasn't paying attention, and was nearly jumped."

Putting the pen back down, Coulson glanced over at the soldier and tapped his scarred chest. "You and me both."

Knowing that they were at an understanding, but not wanting to dwell on it, Steve eyed the agent and grinned. "Do you still have those cards?"

* * *

"Hello Honey. Daddy's home!"

Sauntering through the automated doors, Tony lifted his hands up in the air, as if he were on a stage, awaiting the screaming fans and hallowed cheers.

The plane ride had been quick and silent for the billionaire. Landing on his personal strip in the middle of nowhere, the brunette had seen over his husband's transfer from the plane into an awaiting limo, before ushering the rest of the team and their luggage into another. The nap on the plane had done his sleep depraved mind the world of good, and now that he was in the house he secretly preferred to all others, he could get to work.

Ignoring the jetlagged bundle as they tripped their way into the house, Tony raced through the house, flicking unassuming switches on.

"Tony," Bruce sighed, needing a cup of tea before he even thought of kick starting his brain. "I think the lights still work."

Flicking on the last switch, Tony skidded across the marble floor and scowled. "How could you? Checking lights, honestly. Jarvis! My former science bro just called you a light!"

"_I'm very upset to hear that, sir."_

Jumping at the sudden voice, Bruce, Clint and Steve looked around to find the owner. Rolling her eyes at the brunette's stupid joke, Natasha thumped him in the arm. "Stark don't frighten them with your technology."

Rubbing the spot that the assassin had just tenderized, Tony stuck his tongue out at her. "You're no fun,_ Natalie_," he pouted, whirling around to the others when she raised her fist again. "Ok, so this is Jarvis, Jarvis this is the Avengers. Jarvis runs the house, and the suits, and pretty much anything else I can think of. He was integrated into Stark Tower, but Loki's super beam of doom short circuited the building, and I couldn't be bothered chucking it back online until the infestation is dealt with."

Looking at the half asleep team, Tony waited for the exclamations and nods of understanding...

...but was left hanging.

Throwing his hands up in exasperation, the billionaire tossed his bag into a random corner, and pulled out his phone.

"_It is a pleasure to meet you," _the smooth British accent announced, startling the trio once more. _"Miss Romanoff, Agent Coulson, it is nice to see you well."_

Replying in kind, the pair made their way into the living room and sat down without another word. Scanning the room, Bruce glanced over at the engineer and raised an eyebrow. "AI Tony? Really?"

Grinning, Tony waived at them to all sit down, and raced back out the front. Confused as to what the brunette was up to, Steve and Bruce stood to go follow him, but stopped when he returned with a sleeping Harry snuggled into his chest. Calling out for Jarvis to supply drinks, Tony disappeared down the hall.

"Well," Clint mused, his shock over the talking house finally wearing off. "You've got to hand it to Stark, if anyone would have a computer nanny it would be him."

Mentally agreeing with the archer, Bruce went to reply, but shut up when said man made his way back into the room, just as a robotic arm on wheels came around the corner carrying a tray of drinks and chips. Snagging a glass, Tony jumped over the back of the couch and slid into the space between an irritated Natasha, and confused Steve.

"So," he grinned, taking a swig of the health drink provided. "This is my pad, what do ya think?"

Not bothering to look around, Natasha grabbed a glass for herself, and smirked. "I think it looked better before the redecoration."

Wrinkling his nose at the assassin, Tony turned to his science bro. "What do you think, Big Guy? It's not as large as the Tower or the mansion, but it has the best lab downstairs."

Taking in the massive grin threatening to split the billionaire's face, Bruce looked around and shrugged. "It's very... you."

Not sure whether or not to take it as a complement, Tony merely raised his glass in salute and drained the remaining liquid.

"_Sir, I have three hundred and forty six messages on your voice mail," Jarvis announced, still getting a twitch from Steve and Clint. "Sixty percent appear to be from either Miss Potts or Lieutenant Rhodes."_

Tony rolled his eyes at the message. "Delete any from any magazine or television company, file the others for later, and play the last one from Rhodey and Pepper in that order."

Not sure what to say or do, the group quietly sat and sipped at their drinks, as the brunette ordered the AI around.

"_Voice message recorded at 3:14 this morning."_

BEEP.

"_Tony?" _The panicked voice of what they assumed was normally a calm and collected man, filled the room; startling Steve to the point of spilling his drink._ "Tony, man, you need to answer your phone. The fight's all over the news. I mean, hell, I'm in Egypt right now, and it's all over the TV. I'll be back in the states in two days. If you can't be bothered to call me, then at least get in contact with Pepper. She's nearly jetted back there a few times now, but some guy called Fury told her that you were fine, so I don't know. Call her! And hey, did I see Harry with you?"_

Standing up, Tony ignored the others as he shuffled past them, and walked into the kitchen to get another drink.

"_Voice message recorded at 1:26 this morning."_

BEEP.

"_Tony!" the shrill tone of Pepper Potts suddenly filled the air, causing anyone that had yet to met her, to wince. "Tony Stark you answer this phone right now! I've sent you at least a million calls and messages, and all I get is a 'I'm fine. See you in Cali'? When I get a hold of you, Anthony, I'm going to-"_

"Jarvis stop message."

Making his way back into the living room, Tony waved away the machine as it tried to take his glass, and plastered on his usual paparazzi grin.

"As you can see," he waved his hand around in a circular fashion. "There's plenty to do, plenty to see. Dummy here will show you to your rooms, and if you've got any questions, just ask Jarvis. Or Little Miss Spy here. I'll be down in the lab, if you're names not Bruce, don't expect to be let in."

Twirling around to make his way down the stairs, Tony stopped when the star spangled banner decided to finally dislodge his tongue from his mouth, and speak.

"Wait Tony."

Turning back around, the brunette raised an eyebrow. "What Americana?"

Looking up at the man, Steve set his face into its most open and heartfelt look, and smiled at the man that had dragged them across the country, just so they could all stay together, and smiled.

"Thank you."

Not sure what to say, Tony spun back around, and stormed down his way down to the labs. He had suits to repair and guests to ignore.

* * *

The sudden departure of Tony was not one that the group could say they hadn't been expecting.

After checking out each room and placing their belongings away, Bruce had decided to head downstairs to make sure the idiot didn't blow himself up, leaving the rest to lounge around the living area. Clicking through the so many hundred shows on the plasma screen, Clint quickly grew bored and turned to see what the others were doing.

Coulson had found himself a spot on the kitchen table, and was growling at some poor intern thru his phone. Steve was immersed in some paperback novel that the archer knew he would never touch; and Natasha was beside him cleaning her guns. Deciding that poking her right now would probably not end the best for him, Clint glanced up at the ceiling, and smirked.

"Hey Jarvis?"

"_Yes Mr Barton?"_

"Who was that on the messages earlier?"

Noticing Steve and Natasha's interest pique up, Clint ignored them, and continued to stare at the spot on the ceiling.

Finally, after a minute of debate, Jarvis slowly replied_. "The messages were from Miss Potts, Mr Stark's secretary and former CEO, and Lieutenant James Rhodes, or Rhodey as Mr Stark likes to refer to him by."_

Nodding, Clint went to ask the AI who they were exactly, but was beaten to it by the woman beside him.

"Pepper Potts and James Rhodes are Stark's closest, and I think, only, friends," she explained, running a small brush through the pistol's barrel. "Rhodes was with Stark when he was kidnapped in Afghanistan, and he and Pepper became a couple right after she resigned from being CEO."

Placing his book down, Steve glanced over at the stairwell, before turning back to the red head and leaning forward. "But how can he have a relationship with this Miss Potts," he frowned, hoping that he had understood what the assassin had said. "He's a married man. The proof is currently passed out in his bed."

Shrugging, Natasha clicked the pin back into place and aimed. "I don't know," she admitted. "I was assigned his case a year after his stint in the desert, and from what we've only recently gathered Harry was out of the picture long before then. Clint, you're his friend. Did he say anything to you?"

Shaking his head, the blonde lent back, mindful of his bruised ribcage, and sighed. "We lost touch there for a while. I didn't even know he was married. Last time I saw him before this, he looked like hell though; like he had nothing left to cling on to."

Nodding in understanding, Steve sat back in his chair and picked back up his book. "Well," he muttered, turning the page. "Either way, it has nothing to do with us. Unless it affects the performance of the team, I say we just leave it alone."

"You're kidding right?" Snorting, Clint gave the soldier a look of utter disbelief. "Don't try an act all goodie two shoes, test dummy, we know that you're just as interested in this as we are."

Tilting her head in agreement, Natasha put the now shiny weapon back down on the coffee table, and yawned. "Well the answers not going to magically appear tonight." Stretching her arms above her head, the assassin waited till she heard a satisfying pop, before bringing them back down. "I'm drained. You coming?"

Nodding, Clint let the red head help him up, before turning to the Captain and pointing his finger at him. "I'm right," he stated, his voice raising even as he was dragged out of the room. "You're a drama whore, Cap; admit it!"

* * *

The Lab truly was something. An engineer's dream. Unfortunately Bruce in all his multi-labelled glory, was not an engineer.

Watching in amazement as 3D holographic systems came to life everywhere, the brunette made his way past the spectacular hot rod show, and towards the back of the room.

"I must admit," he exclaimed, hoping that his voice wasn't too high. "This really is something. How long did it take you to set up this place?"

Turning off the cutting torch, Tony glanced up at the awe-faced man, and grinned. "Isn't it?" Ripping off the scrap of metal that was once the suit's leg, the genius pressed a button on the crane, and moved it so the suit was hovering above a bench.

"Give me a hand?"

Reaching forward, the two men of science quickly had the empty shell laid out on the operation table, and ready to dissect. "It was the first house I bought."

Snapping his head to face the man and not the machinery, Bruce waited for him to continue.

"When my parents died, I didn't want to live in the mansion by myself, especially with the media hounding me like dogs." Cracking open the chest, Tony motioned for Bruce to hold back the wiring as he removed the damaged claps and metal plates. "So I handed the company over to someone I thought was family, and ran to the other side of the country."

"And where did Harry fit into all of this?"

Stopping all movement, Tony eyed the curious man beside him, and grimaced. "Right here," he muttered, tapping the arc reactor in his chest. "Or at least he did. I don't know if his still does."

"I thought that you two made up?" Moving to hold the pliers so the slightly taller man could reach in and grab the loose piece that fell in, Bruce began to realize just how close they were. He knew that he shouldn't be asking such personal questions, but he was fascinated by the deviously intelligent man.

Grabbing the fragment, Tony nodded in agreement. "We did, but there's still a lot of air to clear. I love him, he is the only person that I have ever been just me with, and when I needed him most, he wasn't there. I don't think I can put that to the back of mind and just forget it. You know?"

Nodding in agreement, Bruce let the conversation fall into a lull as he thought over what he had just been told.

* * *

The world was slowly coming back to him.

He was unsure how long he had been under, days, weeks. Fighting against the darkness that threatened to suffocate him; sleep ridden eyelids opened heavily, letting the emeralds hidden behind them glow in the darkened room. Feeling the power he had used so readily in battle return to him, parched lips opened to call out and announce his return to the conscious world; but was stopped when the wave of fear and loss hit his chest.

The pain was complete and utter agony; dragging him to the very depths of torment and distress.

Feeling that his body was not quite ready to bear such a burden, emerald eyes glanced around the cloaked room one last time, before once more hiding away from the world.

_Soon,_ his magic whispered coaxing his mind back into a state of unawareness. _Soon._


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning rose with a feeling of excitement and anticipation that no-one could explain. Shuffling his way down the hallway, Phil stifled back the yawn threatening to escape. Straightening his tie, the agent nodded politely to the blonde cooking away, and made his way towards the coffee machine.

"Have a good night, sir?"

"Better than most."

Chuckling, Steve turned back to the stove, and flipped the pancakes. Pouring the liquid gold into a mug, Coulson took a deep swig and moaned in appreciation.

"Careful Phil, Fury might get jealous."

Narrowing his eyes, Coulson ignored the two agents as they made their way into the kitchen, and sat down. Picking up the newspaper, he slowly sifted through it, letting the calm conversation flow over him. Natasha moved in to help the Captain with the bacon and eggs, stopping him from breaking something more than once. Clint stood to the side, commenting and jabbing at them every now and then, but mostly nicking the food as it hit the plates. Turning to eye the blue eyed man with his nose almost touching the paper, the archer snorted.

"So what's on the score card for the day?"

Placing the now empty cup into the sink, Phil glanced over at the three people huddled around the kitchen bench, and shrugged. "I'm only here to make sure that you don't blow the place up or scare the local wildlife. Apart from that, it's up to you."

Brightening at the answer, Clint turned to the red head bombshell and scoffed when he caught her chipmunk impersonation. "You hungry, Nat?"

Swallowing the mouthful, Natasha grabbed the archer's plate and held it out of his grasp. "Not as much as you Clint."

Shaking his head at the squabbling pair, Steve finished plating up the food. "I'm going to get Bruce and Tony."

"I don't think that's a good idea Cap." Giving the pouting marker his plate back, hazel eyes turned to face the super soldier and frowned. "When Stark goes into his little hole, he doesn't like to come out until he's good and ready."

"Well that's tough cookies." Placing the last of the breakfast onto the table, Steve whirled around and stalked towards the stairs. "We work as a team, we can start eating as a team."

* * *

The suit had taken a lot less time to repair than Tony had thought. After making sure that the systems were back online and the parts were back to their wonderful gleaming selves, the CEO had been too wired to head back upstairs, and instead had offered to show Bruce some of the other little side projects he had tucked away.

Typing away at the keyboard, chocolate brown eyes scanned the screen for a second to make sure that there wasn't any errors in the coding, before flicking it to the side. Jarvis would go through it and link it into the Mark IIIV. Glancing over at the shorter man, typing away at his own set of codes, Tony smiled.

Tap, tap, tap.

Letting the smile slip away, Tony scanned the room for the source of the noise, but found nothing.

Tap, tap, tap.

"Jarvis, turn down the music."

Waiting for the heavy beat to subside, Tony narrowed his eyes in confusion. Dummy was upstairs, and Butterfingers was putting the last coat of paint on the suit, so it wasn't them...

Tap, tap, tap. "Tony!"

Whirling around, Tony caught sight of the muscle bound blonde knocking on the glass, and groaned. That would explain the irritating tapping sound. Waving away Bruce's questioning look, the engineer got up from his swivel seat, and made his way to the door. Thank god he installed the two way so he wouldn't have to let the man in.

"What's up Sparkles?"

Eyeing the glowing box on the window, Steve pressed a few different buttons, until he finally got the one he was after. "I made breakfast for everyone," he yelled, causing the brunette still sitting to chuckle. "I thought that you two might like some."

Rolling his eyes, Tony glared over his shoulder, only to make the doctor laugh harder. "Yeah, no I think we're good Cap."

"Tony, you've been down here since we arrived."

"Actually," Raising from his chair, Bruce stretched his back out, letting loose a series of pops. "I am a bit hungry, now that you mention it."

Beaming at the doctor, Steve peeked over at the scowling engineer and waited. Knowing that he would have no choice now that his science bro had agreed with the blonde, Tony threw his hands in the air, and stomped his way past them. "Fine, I'm going. But there better be Bacon!"

* * *

The rest of the day was spent in relative ease. Clint somehow got Natasha to sit with him and watch movies, something that he complained they never got to do; Steve sat with Coulson, either reading quietly or engaging the man in a conversation when he wasn't yelling at people on the other end of his phone; and Bruce stayed upstairs, working on a laptop he had found with a bow around it in his room.

It was only when the day was drawing to an end that the group noticed the huge lack of ego that they had slowly become use to. Putting the last of the pasta into a dish, Steve turned to put it in the oven.

"Dinner will be ready in an hour," he called out, walking his way into the living room. "Has anyone seen Stark since breakfast?"

Shaking their heads, Clint and Natasha made to stand, but stopped when Bruce's mumbled words hit their ears.

"He's been sitting with Harry."

Tossing the tea-towel he had been wiping his hands with, over his shoulder; Steve tilted his head. "Why would he be in there? He hasn't been near Harry since the battle; well apart from when we moved here."

Lifting his shoulder, Bruce finished off his line of notes, and closed the laptop. "I have no idea," he admitted, placing the computer to the side and standing. "But I can only assume that it's a coping mechanism for him. Now that we've moved and the suit's fixed I can only assume that he's run out excuses, and has forced himself to be in there."

Muting the television, Clint glanced up from where he was lying in Natasha's lap, and glowered. "Hang on a sec," he growled. "You're saying that he ran me out of the room when I was sitting with him, but wouldn't go in there himself? I'm going to snot that bastard next time I see him."

Raising and eyebrow, Natasha tugged harshly at a lock of blonde hair, and forced the man to look up at her. "And when did you go sit with the wizard?"

"Um-when you were asleep?" Knowing that that was defiantly the wrong thing to say, Clint jumped as quickly as his bruised ribs would allow, out of her lap, and turned to face her. "It was the first time you had fallen asleep since the fight, and I was worried about him. He's my friend Nat-"

"-But you wish to be more."

Not wanting to know about the pair's love life, Bruce tried to tune it out, but halted when the exclamation of Tony throwing Clint out hit his ears. "Wait, what? Tony threw you out of the room?"

Knowing that the woman wasn't going to listen to him, not matter what he said, Clint swivelled around, and faced the doctor. "Yeah, I was sitting there talking to him, and Tony came in, took one look at me, and screamed at me to get out. I'm actually surprised that he didn't try and physically throw me out or anything."

Not sure what to make of the sudden discovery, the group stood in awkward silence. Tony was an eccentric person, for that there was no doubt. But for him to freak out at someone for sitting with his comatose husband, only to then not take their place?

Sighing at the mystery that he was sure was going to give him a migraine, Steve went back into the kitchen, and pulled out the cooked pasta bake. "Well either way, can someone go get the idiot. Dinner's ready."

* * *

It had taken two threats to his life, and a stern word from their self proclaimed babysitter, but Tony had finally been dragged away from the wizard's bed, and sat at the end of the kitchen table with a plate in front of him. Pocking at the hunk of cheese and Italian sauce, Tony tuned out the polite conversation going on around him, and let his mind wander off into the dark corner he hid his most scarring thoughts and memories.

Afghanistan and Obie's deceit were chained there, so was the death of Yinsen and the more recent events, like Vanko and Hammer; but they weren't the memories he was after. No it was the day he stepped off the plane to find Pepper and Happy there with tears in their eyes. He had known straight away that they weren't tears of joy and relief.

"_Tony could you past the salt?"_

_Not hearing the request, Tony continued to stare at the plate, immersing himself in the day his world had shattered, leaving him with nothing but a broken heart._

"_What happened?"_

_Green eyes, so unlike his husbands, looked up at him through tear filled lashes. _

"_He's gone. Jarvis can't find him; we think he returned to England."_

_Pepper, Rhodey and Happy were the only ones beside Tony that knew what Harry really was. Clenching at the fabric of his shirt, the billionaire felt the prickle of tears hit his eyes even as he stared at his secretary and friend._

"_Why?"_

_Shaking her head, Pepper lent in to hug him, but stopped when he stepped away. "We don't know. Happy stepped outside for a moment, and the next he was gone. Jarvis scanned the place, but no-one else was in the house. Tony, I-"_

_Holding his hand up to stop whatever else the usually stern woman was about to say, Tony forced himself to walk, and slid into the car._

"_I want you to call a press conference."_

The sight of the empty house and missing photos had nearly destroyed the man, but with the need for revenge quickly filling the cracks the pain had left, Tony had instead focused on that, and had set out to make the Iron Man suit and make his captors pay.

"Tony?"

Glancing up at the five sets of eyes staring at him in worry, Tony went to stand up and leave, when a sudden movement in the corner of his eyes, caught his attention.

* * *

It was returning.

The pain.

The agony.

Gritting his teeth at the sudden wave of emotions and memories battering his body like a cliff against the sea, Emerald eyes slitted open, knowing that there was no going back. Turning his head to his magic's gentle cooing, Harry slowly lifted his head and hissed. The burning pain of unused muscles flared down his back and across his shoulders.

He must have been out of it for longer than he thought.

Deciding that the only way he was going to stop the pain was by starting up again, the brunette sat up slowly, and swung his legs over the side of the bed. The room was once again dark, and the faint sounds he could hear from further away, did nothing to tell him where he was. Placing a cold hand against his fevered head, Harry tried to think back to the last memory he had, but stopped when the pain in his chest returned.

Panting, wide emerald eyes spun around looking for any clue as to why his last memory could possibly hurt so much, but couldn't find any. Clutching the mattress tightly, Harry hauled himself into a somewhat standing position; and on wobbly legs, made his way towards the door.

Thanking his luck to find the handle wasn't locked, the brunette slid out of the room, his eyes closing tightly at the sudden flood of light. Using his hand to shield his face, the wizard listened out for the noises once more, and slowly made his way towards them.

With each step, a sense of familiarity hit him. It was as if he had been here before, but someone had changed the colours and props; leaving nothing but a ghost of what once was. Using the walls as a guide and leaning post, Harry made his way to the end of the hall, and into a room filled with people.

They were sitting at a table quietly eating; and as he glanced at each face, he felt the vague memories in his mind poke harder and harder against the wall keeping them locked away. Knowing that these people were important to him, Harry checked over each one, until he came to the last face at the end of the table and gasped.

"Tony?"

The wall in his mind crashed down upon him like a ton of bricks, unleashing every thought and memory. Focusing on the very last one he could remember, Harry stared at the silent form sitting at the table and crumbled to the floor; his knees finally giving way.


	4. Chapter 4

_"Tony?"_

_The wall in his mind crashed down upon him like a ton of bricks, unleashing every thought and memory. Focusing on the very last one he could remember, Harry stared at the silent form sitting at the table and crumbled._

* * *

The group was out of their seats quicker than they could blink. Crowding around the shaking brunette, voices yelled over each other, trying desperately to see if the man was ok, but doing nothing to actually help. Noticing the panic quickly making its way across the wizard's face, Bruce squeezed his way out of the scrum. Pulling his foot out from between Steve and Clint's thighs, the doctor stumbled for a second, before composing himself and turning back to the others and whistling.

Wincing as the high pitch sound ripped its way through the air, one by one, the team shut up and faced the unimpressed brunette.

"Crowding around him will not help." Pushing away the shy, passive personality he normally kept on, Bruce zipped on his commanding, no-hold-back Doctor facade he saved for when he was serving in third world countries, and crossed his arms. "Tony, pick him up and put him on the couch; try and calm his breathing. Phil go get a spare blanket and bring it in, Nat make some tea. Herbal if there's any."

Racing to do as the scientist ordered, Natasha and Coulson left the room; Tony quickly following with a hyperventilating Harry in his arms. Moving out of the way, Steve and Clint stalked after Bruce and watched as he sat beside the rocking couple.

"Is there anything you need us to do?"

Glancing away from the slowly calming wizard, Bruce watched as the other two walked into the room and nodded. "I need you to go."

Bristling at the dismissal, Clint puffed up. "We're his friends-"

"And as his friends, I need you to go." Letting go of the smaller man's arm, Bruce took the blanket Coulson handed to him, and motioned for Natasha to place the tea on the table. "He went into shock after seeing Tony, by crowding around him the way we did, we made his reaction worse. Now, I'm going to stay here until Harry's calm again, but the rest of you need to leave."

Knowing that they weren't going to win, Coulson nudged the others towards the kitchen and out of sight.

* * *

For once in his life, Tony's mind was racing faster than he could keep up.

One minute he was wallowing over the whole mess between him and his passed out husband, and the next, he had said man shaking in his arms while the rest of the team crowded around them. Not daring to take his eyes off the man in his arms, the brunette ignored the rest as they filed out; Bruce following them shortly after.

Slowly rocking backwards and forwards, Tony let the calming motion settle his nerves, and ease his racing mind. He wasn't sure how long they had been sitting there. Minutes? Hours? The house was still dark, so his dazed mind couldn't tell.

"You were dead."

Jumping, Tony glanced down at the smaller man; forcing his heart to stop thumping so loudly. "What was that?"

Connecting glowing emerald with chocolate brown, Harry stared at the billionaire like he was the most important person in the world. "You were dead," he repeated, his voice slightly louder. "I saw you fall; you're light was out."

Not sure what to say, Tony stared back down at the hopeful man, and blurted out the first thing that came to his mind. "Yeah, well, if a group of terrorists couldn't kill me, I wouldn't put your money on a missile."

Apparently that was the wrong thing to say.

**SLAP.**

Reeling back at the force of the hit, Tony felt his eyes water, even as he lifted his hand to cover the redden cheek. Glaring up at the wizard, Tony stood from his spot on the couch, and stalked his way over to the fuming man.

"What the hell was that for?"

Throwing his hands up in the air, Harry stared daggers at the brunette, and shouted. "Oh, I don't know? How's about the fact that you just joked about the fact that you nearly died; again, and I went into a coma believing that you were!"

Reaching out to hold down the arms waving around, Tony fumed when he was shrugged off, and finally decided that he had had enough. He may have nearly died, but had always been there. "Why do you care anyways?" he snarled, red seeping into the corners of his vision. "You were going to run again anyways! So why do you care if you thought I died?"

"I wasn't going to leave, you self righteous bastard!"

"Why do I find that so fucking hard to believe?"

The temperature of the room rose as their voices got louder. Tony had never lost his temper like this before. He had never rose his voice in anger towards his husband, and he had most defiantly never once thought about getting into his face like he was, but after so long wondering what he did to make the shorter man leave him, he was damned if he was going to give up.

Straining the muscles in his arms as he clenched his hands into fists, Tony fiercely stared down at the brunette, and pointed. "I loved you," he snarled. "I still love you, and you left me without a single fucking word. I needed you, and you couldn't even give me the fucking courtesy of saying it to my fucking face!"

Glaring holes into the man in front of him, Harry forced back the tears building in his eyes.

"I thought that you were dead," he screamed.

Grabbing at his hair, Tony was half tempted to rip it out, but settled for twirling around and growling. "What does that even mean? You keep saying it, but it's not adding up!"

"It means that I fucking thought that you were dead! What else is there to understand Tony?"

"Everything!" Forcing his nails out of his skull, Tony glanced over at the heavily panting man, and sighed. "Pepper caught me up on the news after I got back, and in no article did it say straight out that I was dead."

Feeling the anger slowly drain from him, Harry collapsed onto the couch; his eyes never leaving his husband. "Jarvis never told you?"

Not wanting to sit down, but wanting to get his answers, Tony glanced over at the shocked man, and frowned. "Told me what?"

He could feel the migraine setting in.

"When news of your capture first hit us, I wanted to race over there and find you." Running a hand through his dishevelled hair, Harry closed his eyes for a moment, and sighed. "It was only because I was having dinner with Happy and Pepper when the call came in, that I was stopped from flying over there and hunting the bastards that took you. I tried a couple of times, but after catching me for what must have been the fifth or sixth time, Pepper placed me under house arrest."

Sensing that the yelling was not going to make a reappearance, Tony slowly made his way back around the coffee table and perched on the edge of the lounge; his elbows propped up by his knees. "Pepper mentioned something about that," he admitted. "But I wasn't really paying attention. The sudden loss kinda shut my mind off from everything else."

Itching to place his hand on the brunette's leg, Harry stomped the thought down, and continued. "Happy was to keep an eye on me, but with everything going on, I was pretty much cationic so he didn't have to. It was about two months after you left, that I received a phone call. Jarvis authenticated that it was from one of the scout parties sent out to search for you; Happy was out so I answered, and they- they-"

Feeling his throat close up, Harry forced him to calm down, and focus on the warm arms pulling him into the other's chest.

"-they told me that they found you, but it was too late. I asked to see the body, but the sergeant said that there was barely enough to make a DNA sample."

Tightening his hold on the distraught man, Tony went over everything he had been told. He knew that it was true; Harry could never lie, he just didn't have the ability to. Leaning forward, he placed a soft kiss on the mop of hair and sighed.

"So you packed up and left."

Nodding, Harry unconsciously circled the arc reactor with the tip of his thumb. "I knew I wouldn't be back here if it was true, but I couldn't believe it without seeing the truth for myself; so I packed anything of sentimental, and flew non-stop until I finally got there. I found the cave with a few tracking spells, and with all the blood and destruction, I knew that I had my answer."

God he felt like such an idiot.

He should have known. When Pepper had told him that the wizard had disappeared, instead of asking why, he had turned to his newest project and the bottle. Running his hand up and down the other's waist, Tony sighed. This was the way it was suppose to be. The way it should have been.

"What I don't understand," Harry murmured after a moment of silence. "Is why Jarvis didn't tell you? I thought that that would have been one of the first things he would have notified you about."

Kissing the top of his husband's head again, Tony blushed slightly at the question, and coughed. "Um- yeah, well, when I got back here, I may have put a gag order on him."

Snapping his head up, Harry scowled at the genius and swatted his arm. "How many times have I told you not to bully Jarvis like that?"

"He was trying to talk feelings to me!"

The billionaire's indignant look was hilarious; not able to stay upset with him, Harry leant forward and sucked the tempting lower lip into his mouth. "You know this conversation isn't over," he muttered. "We still have a lot to catch up on."

Nodding, Tony slid the lithe man under him and placed his hands on either side if his hips. "We do, but I also remember being promised a later on the Helicarrier."

Grinning, Harry reach back up and wound his fingers around the silk shirt. He did promise that, didn't he?

* * *

Bruce was not the least bit amused.

Leaving the pair to sort things out, the doctor had left the married couple along in the room to get a drink before bed, only to bump right into the rest of the team in the kitchen. Glancing up at the short brunette, Steve had been the only one decent enough to look at least a little bit embarrassed, the other three pulling him further in so that they could crowd around the edge.

"Is there a reason you four are squatting on the floor like a bunch of toads?"

Waving her hand at the scientist, Natasha peeked around the corner, before glancing back. "Tony is going to say something stupid, and Harry's going to beat the shit out of him for it."

Grabbing his glass, Bruce took a deep gulp before continuing. "And you lot are just sitting there for moral support?"

"Admit it Doc," Clint whispered, clutching a bowl of chips. "You're just as interested as the rest of us."

"No, I'm not. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to-"

**SLAP.**

"Damn it," glancing around the wall, Natasha frowned. "I missed it."

Rolling his eyes, Bruce went to walk away, but was stopped surprisingly, by Coulson. "I wouldn't walk out there Dr Banner. They need to talk this out, and seeing you might stop them."

Knowing that that was true, Bruce glared at the two spies like it was all their fault, and lent against the counter. He was so looking forward to sleep too.

"_Oh, I don't know? How's about the fact that you just joked about the fact that you nearly died; again, and I went into a coma believing that you were!"_

Well that explained why Tony was slapped; not that any of them had believed that it would've been for anything less. Watching as Clint reached for a potato chip, Bruce snorted. Of course the archer would act like this was a show for his own amusment.

"_Why do you care anyways? You were going to run again anyways! So why do you care if you thought I died?"_

"Ouch," Natasha winced, waving away the offered bowl. "Harry's not going to take that lying down."

"_I wasn't going to leave, you self righteous bastard!"_

"See?"

"No one disagreed with you Nat."

"Shhh, we're missing it!"

"_-loved you. I still love you, and you left me without a single fucking word. I needed you, and you couldn't even give me the fucking courtesy of saying it to my fucking face!" _

"_I thought that you were dead!"_

The kitchen was so quiet Bruce swore that he would have been able to hear a pin drop. To hear the great Tony Stark admit that he cared for someone besides himself, was a truly rare thing. But to hear him full out say that he loved Harry...

"_What does that even mean? You keep saying it, but it's not adding up!"_

"_It means that I fucking thought that you were dead! What else is there to understand Tony?"_

"_Everything!"_

The conversation was getting to the point that even Clint and Natasha were becoming uncomfortable. Starting to regret their idea; or at least spying position, the five subtly shifted on the floor, hoping that the pair would leave the room soon.

"_Pepper caught me up on the news after I got back, and in no article did it say straight out that I was dead."_

"_Jarvis never told you?"_

"_Told me what?"_

Banging her head quietly against the wall, Natasha turned to the blushing Coulson, and hissed. "This is all your fault. You were the one to suggest this."

"I didn't force you to follow me Miss Romanoff."

"_-to race over there and find you. It was only because I was having dinner with Happy and Pepper when the call came in, that I was stopped from flying over there and hunting the bastards that took you. I tried a couple of times, but after catching me for what must have been the fifth or sixth time, Pepper placed me under house arrest."_

Frowning, Steve turned to the concentrating scientist, and mouthed. "House arrest?"

"He had to stay in the house," Bruce replied. "It was to stop him from doing something stupid. He probably had someone stay with him, and keep an eye on him."

Nodding, Steve shifted slightly, and continued to listen.

"_-so he didn't have to. It was about two months after you left, that I received a phone call. Jarvis authenticated that it was from one of the scout parties sent out to search for you; Happy was out so I answered, and they- they-"_

A short pause, and the sound of fabric rustling informed the group of the pair being on the lounge once more. A good sign.

"_-they told me that they found you, but it was too late. I asked to see the body, but the sergeant said that there was barely enough to make a DNA sample."_

"Well that would explain it," Clint mused, his hold on the bowl not letting up. "I would leave and go underground too of someone told me Nat was blown up."

Flashing a look that Bruce really didn't want to analyse at the grinning archer, Natasha snatched a chip from the man's hand and stuck it in her mouth. Yep, really did not want to think about it.

"_-couldn't believe it without seeing the truth for myself; so I packed anything of sentimental, and flew non-stop until I finally got there. I found the cave with a few tracking spells, and with all the blood and destruction, I knew that I had my answer."_

The room fell quite, and for one blissful moment, Bruce entertained the idea that the pair had moved off to their room, but was stomped out when Harry's voice made its way through the room and to his ears.

"_What I don't understand, is why Jarvis didn't tell you? I thought that that would have been one of the first things he would have notified you about."_

"_Um- yeah, well, when I got back here, I may have put a gag order on him."_

It was very difficult for the group to hold in their snorts. Absolutely none of them believed that the man wasn't telling the truth. Tuning out to the rest of the conversation, Bruce swirled his glass around a few times, and huffed. He could have been in bed right now if the rest of them hadn't decided to play 'spy on the fighting couple'. Brown eyes glazing over at the thought of a soft bed with no spiders and other creepy crawlies, Bruce snapped back to reality when the Steve tapped his shoulder, a confused look on his face.

"What's that noise?"

Opening his ears, Bruce focused on the muffled noises that were coming from the other room, and blushed brightly when a rather loud moan escaped.

"Oh dude," Clint hissed, his face screwed up in pain. "They're doing the nasty!"

Tilting his head in confusion, Steve glanced at the brunette for a second, before another moan and a muffled shout hit his ears, and clicked things into place. "They're Fondoing?" he exclaimed, his face lighting up faster than a Christmas tree.

Going green around the gills, Clint lowered his half eaten bowel to the floor and nodded. "Call it whatever you want man. Bumping uglies, doing the horizontal cha-cha, playing with the ol' slip'n'slide-"

"I think that's enough Mr Barton."

Noticing that Coulson wasn't looking the best himself, Bruce glanced around for a way out. The way to the bedrooms was too visible, and they would defiantly be caught, and not wanting to spend the night out on the deck, no matter how pretty the stars could be, the scientist decided that the only place left was the lab.

"C'mon," he muttered, walking quietly towards the stairs. "I don't know about you, but I don't want to listen to the happy couple go at it like a pair of rabbits."

Quickly following after the brunette, Clint had to turn back and grab an amused Natasha. The man was right. This was one thing they didn't need to listen to.


	5. Chapter 5

_Quickly following after the brunette, Clint had to turn back and grab an amused Natasha. The man was right. This was one thing they didn't need to listen to._

* * *

Pepper Potts was not having a good morning.

Scratch that, a good week.

She had known that when she left Tony alone to do the Stark circus, that she would more than likely come back to a blown up lab or incinerated kitchen; but this was much worse. The news of the Alien attack in New York had been the first thing she had seen when she landed in France, and if it hadn't been for Happy's insistence that the CEO was fine, she would have cancelled the whole bloody thing and headed back on the first flight.

Dragging her luggage out of the plane, Pepper handed it over to the waiting chauffer, and sighed. She was finally back on US soil, and for that she was grateful. Travel was a necessity, not a want.

"It's good to see you still in one piece Peps."

Glancing over the ridiculously expensive sunglass's Tony had bought her for Christmas, Pepper scanned the runway for the owner of the voice.

"Only barely James."

Flashing her pearly whites at the smirking soldier, Pepper made her way over the waiting car, and kissed the man softly. "I swear that man is going to be the death of me one day."

Humming in agreement, Rhodey lent down to further the kiss, but stopped when a perfectly manicured hand pressed against his chest. Leaning back, the soldier eyed the powerful woman below him, and smirked. "I suppose we better go see how the child is going," he admitted, turning to open the car door. "I heard that he got some new friends to sleep over."

Giggling at the thought, Pepper slid into the car, and pulled out her phone. "Let's just hope his play dates haven't helped him booby trap the place, or blow it up."

"Oh god, that's the last thing we need; more Tonys."

* * *

Clint was not a happy camper.

Considering how much time the elusive Tony Stark spent in his batcave, one would have easily assumed that the man had at least somewhat decent cots hidden away down there. But no, after a valiant search, the tired group had found nothing of the sort, and not finding any keys for the cars either, had had to suck it up and find the softest chair or patch of floor that they could find.

Cracking the not in his back, the brunette winced slightly, and slowly jumped down from his place on top of the desk. Glancing around to see that the others were slowly rousing, blue eyes felt a small tinge of sympathy as each one moaned in pain, and made his way to the stairs.

If he had to suffer, then so did Stark.

* * *

The car was pulling up to the drive, and for once in her life, Pepper was one hundred percent glad to see the old place. Waiting for Rhodey to open the door as he always insisted, the fiery red head took in the well cared lawns and gleaming glass, and breathed a sigh of contempt. Stark Tower may have been big and beautiful, but this was home.

"So what are you going to do when you see him?"

Taking the offered hand, Pepper hauled herself out of the car, and let all the worry and anger she had bottled up for the last week, flood her system and twist her face into a pissed off scowl.

"Just watch."

Stalking her way towards the building, Pepper straightened her back and steeled her eyes. There was a reason she was called the 'fire queen' by board members and employees alike. Slamming open the heavy doors, hazel eyes lit up with hidden rage.

"Anthony Edward Stark!" she yelled, knowing from experience that he would hear her no matter where he was. "You get your arse out here right now! Don't make me com- Oh dear god!"

* * *

Tony was having a very good morning.

A very, very good morning.

Rubbing his hand slowly up and down the side of the warm body beside him, the brunette thought back to the night before, and the way the two of them reconnected after so long apart. Tracing his way down the smooth contours and full figured bumps, the genius was just about to make up his decision on the best way to wake the other, when multiple startling events happened at once-

**BANG.**

"Anthony Edward Stark! You get your arse out here right now! Don't make me com- Oh dear god!"

Jumping out of his skin, Tony looked up at the open door framing a very pissed off Potts, just as Harry jolted awake and fell to the floor. The blanket quickly following him. Bolting up right, heavily mused hair and sleepy emerald eyes peeked over the edge of the coffee table, just in time to see the rest of the team rush into the room, and take in the scene.

Not sure what had just happened, Tony looked around widely, his mind still waking.

"That was fucking hilarious," Clint crowed, tears running down his face.

Glowering up at the archer, Tony decided that he was going to be the target of his first snark of the day, but stopped when he noticed everyone's eyes were still very much on him, and to his slight embarrassment, his nakedness. Reaching for the first thing he could find, which happened to be a rather small throw cushion, Tony glanced down at the blushing wizard, and couldn't help but chuckle. The 'deer caught in headlights' look, was just too adorable.

Catching onto the engineer's mirth, Harry shifted his gaze up to his husband and glared. Bundling the blanket up as much as he could, emerald eyes made sure that it was covering his form completely, before; as much dignity as he could muster, he stood up and shuffled out of the room.

Watching the swaying behind, Tony waited till it was no longer in view, and turned to face his gaping secretary and amused best friend.

"Well," he quipped, standing himself. "You've got to admit that this isn't the first time you've caught me like this."

Mentally smirking at the shocked looks still plastered on the majority of the group, Tony gripped his pillow tightly, and stalked his way towards his bedroom. His lily white arse bouncing with each step.

* * *

The excitement of scaring Tony and Harry quickly died down, despite the red stain on Steve's face, and Clint's random fits of laughter. Falling into the rhythm they had found the day before, Steve and Natasha had breakfast cooked and ready by the time a rather calm Harry walked in.

"Tony will be out in a second," he muttered, nodding his head in thanks as Coulson handed over a mug of coffee. "He's just got to stop giggling."

Raising an eyebrow at the thought, Natasha placed the last of dishes down on the table, and took her seat between Clint and Steve. "I didn't take Stark to be a giggle type."

"Oh he is." Taking a slice of toast to nibble on, Harry kept his eyes on the table in front of him, and refused to look anywhere else.

Swaggering into the room, Tony patted Rhodey on the back as he passed the Lieutenant, and sat beside his husband; a grin threatening to split his face. "This looks great Steve," he announced, startling the beat red man. "You're going to make someone a wonderful house wife one day."

Glowering, Steve decided not to take the bait, and turned to the pair that he had yet to meet. "I'm sorry," he apologized, stretching his hand over the table. "We haven't been introduced, I'm Steve Rogers."

Grasping the offered hand firmly, Rhodey smiled politely. "Nice to meet you Captain, I've heard a lot about you; of course. I'm James Rhodes; but everyone just calls me Rhodey, and this is Pepper Potts."

Nodding respectfully, Steve retracted his hand, and motioned to the rest of the team. "Well this is Clint Barton, Phil Coulson, Bruce Banner and Natasha Romanoff-"

"We've met," Pepper blurted, her eyes not leaving the reserved wizard. "It's nice to see you again, Phil, Natalie."

Murmuring something that sounded like 'you too', the two agents let the conversation fall into an awkward silence; something that Tony was either ignorant to, or just out right ignoring. Scoffing down the small mountain of bacon on his plate, Tony turned to face his husband, but frowned when he noticed the pinched look on his face. "You ok Hon?"

Wincing as a scoff was let loose from the other end of the table, Harry bowed his head in acceptance. Clutching his plate, the wizard made to stand and leave, but stilled when a strong and landed firmly on his shoulder and squeezed.

Glancing from the emerald eyed man to his fuming assistant and stoic friend, Tony tried to understand what was going on, but couldn't quite figure it out. He knew that the reappearance of his husband would take some time for his friends to understand and accept, but the outright hostility radiating through the room was ridiculous.

Placing her barely touched mug back down on the table, Pepper rose slowly, and eyed the man that still refused to look at her.

"Mr Potter, a word?"

* * *

It was nearing dusk, and the pair had yet to resurface.

Glancing over at the closed bedroom door, Tony tried to stay still, but couldn't stop his foot from tapping. Once the pair had left the table and the dishes had been cleaned, Coulson had suggested that they all sat down and watch a movie. The idea had worked in theory, but by the time they had reached the end of the third film, the group had become thoroughly annoyed.

"Why don't you just go in there already?"

Snapping around to face the irritated woman that looked ready to start throwing knives at him, Tony finally noticed the agitation consuming the others, and huffed. "I can't."

Rolling onto his stomach, Clint reached up for the popcorn. "Why not?" he puffed. "The worst that your going to walk in on, is those two going at it... actually that's not too bad."

Throwing a pillow at the archer, Bruce moved the bowl out of the man's reach and grinned. "He is right you know. What could they possibly be doing?"

"Ripping into each other like no tomorrow?" Stretching his legs out in front of him, Rhodey glanced over at the door and groaned. "What you've got to understand, is that Harry may be married to Tony, but he and Pepper were like linked to the hip. When he disappeared, it hurt her something fierce."

Placing his drink down on the coffee table, Steve peered up at the fellow soldier, and asked the one question they had all been wondering, but not stupid enough to ask. "If Pepper and Harry were so close, how did she and Tony get together? I thought friend's partners were taboo?"

The room was still.

Not sure if that was the best thing to ask, Steve opened his mouth to apologize, but stopped when a giant snort broke through the billionaire's lips; sending the two friends into absolute hysterics. Drinks spilt as the pair grasped at each other, trying so hard not to fall off the couch and onto the floor.

"Cap, I think you just broke them."

Waiting for the pair to calm down, Natasha moved out of the way so no more liquid was dropped on her head. Wiping his cheeks in a vain attempt to stop the tears, Tony peeked over at the others, and broke out laughing all over again.

Finally forcing his laughter down to the odd chuckle, Rhodey let go of the still hooting genius, and straightened himself out. "Tony hasn't been with anyone since he married Harry."

"But all of the one night stands?"

"Drunken idiots," Rhodey waved off, pushing the sniggering man off his lap. "Most of them at least. Set them up in a hotel room paid for by Stark Industries where they would sleep off their hangovers, and everything was ace."

Raising an eyebrow, Bruce eyed the slowly coming around engineer, and paused. "And the rest?"

"Paid off or old school friends that think it's cute he wants to catch up." Taking a sip of the drink that had thankfully remained mostly in the glass, Rhodey glanced over at the still closed door, and frowned. "After Tony made Pepper the CEO, the media sparked up an interest, and by the time she gave it back, they had the two of them paired up and expecting kids. It was convenient for everyone, so no-one said otherwise."

Pulling himself back up off the floor, Tony flopped back into the sofa, and huffed. "Convenient for you. Do you know how hard it is to kiss someone you think of like a sister?"

"So you two never?" Motioning something vulgar with his hands, Clint was dodged the fist Natasha threw at him, but not the one Coulson did. "Ouch, what is it with people hitting me?"

Shrugging, Natasha sat back smirking. "You make it so easy?"

Glaring down at the archer, Rhodey tensed his muscles, but otherwise remained motionless. "I would want to hope they didn't, Agent. That is my fiancée and best friend you're talking about."

Clint had faced down many adversaries, Natasha included, and in that one moment, he could honestly say that he had never felt as intimidated as he did with the Lieutenant staring at him. Back peddling quickly, the brunette held his hands up in defence, much to the amusement of the others, as the bedroom door finally opened up.

Whipping their heads around, the group watched with happiness and great relief, as a tired and tear soaked Harry walked out hand in hand with an equally frazzled looking Pepper.

They were going to be fine.


	6. Chapter 6

I'm soooo sorry! I uploaded the previous chapter six after a sleepless night and too much sugar. This is the offical chpter six! There may be bits of the previous one intergrated into future chps, but please read through, as there will still be changes and so on... Once again, big hugs and cookies to my readers! Keep up the love :)

Now back to the story...

* * *

The couple stayed with the team on Harry's insistence. The house had plenty of space, and after his little disappearing act, the brunette had felt that it was his responsibility to reconnect with his red headed partner in crime and make sure Rhodey had a decent vacation from work.

"So Tony comes up with this half cocked idea that because he owns the stupid thing, he should be allowed to drive it!"

Watching as Pepper vividly recounted the debacle that was her time as CEO of Stark industries to a hysterical Clint and Steve, Tony glanced over at his husband and smiled. With the return of Pepper to the States, meant that so too did his responsibilities to his company, making it almost impossible to spend time with his wizard of a husband. Their relationship wasn't even close to being as it was before his mechanical mishap; what with Harry refusing to sleep in the same bed since the night after he woke, and Tony hiding away in the workshop with Bruce every time the emerald eyed man even looked at him like he was going to say that they needed to talk.

The other housemates had clearly seen what was going on between the pair, and except for Steve and Pepper looking like they wanted to bash their heads in, they pretty much steered clear. Motioning to Rhodey that he was going to get another drink, the engineer made his way off the pool deck where they were all laying about, and into the cool shade of the house.

"Jarvis, what's the stats on the Tower?"

"_The constructors say that it will be another week, and then the renovation will be complete. Will you be taking all of the suits this time, sir?"_

Nodding an affirmative, Tony threw a handful of ice into the glass, and gulped. "Is there any sign of the good ol' thunder god yet?"

"_Not yet sir. I've put a trace on SHIELD's tracking system, so when he returns, I will notify you immediately."_

"You're the man, Jarvis."

Not wanting to go back out to the others just yet, Tony flopped down on the creamy white couch and contemplated the events that had lead to his home being invaded by so many unknowns. Once upon a time; not even two months ago, he had been quite happy to sit in his own presence. He had had no want for companionship, and even if he did, he had never found short supply of it in the parties and functions he crashed every second weekend. He had loved it, he needed no one, but everyone needed him. His father had always taught him to get attached to nothing, because it will only ever hurt you; and Harry had driven home the fact...

...so why was he getting so attached to these people that he barely knew?

Natasha had already infiltrated his home once, and he had sworn to never forgive her for that. Steve was the reason his Father was never around for him. Coulson was of the same cloth as Natasha; as was Clint. And Harry...

Placing the hardly touched glass down on the coffee table, Tony propped his elbows up on his knees, and stared at the blank television screen. Harry had sworn that night that he thought Tony was dead because someone from the military had told him. The billionaire knew that the brunette had been telling the truth, but due to his sudden influx of work and lack of privacy, he had yet to take the gag order off Jarvis and see the video footage for himself.

Glancing over his shoulder to see if everyone was still basking in the sun, Tony turned back around and steeled himself.

"Jarvis, initiate override system three section eight, password rubber duck."

It took the AI a minute to find the command, as Tony knew it would. His marriage had been so quiet that only four other people had known, and when he had gagged his super computer from ever mentioning Harry again, he had made sure to bury the file so deep, that the only way anyone was ever going to find it without knowing where it was and the password for it, was by spending four solid months following trails and ghost programs that would continuously shift or become a dead end.

"_Sir,"_ the British robotic voice rang. _"The folder has been reinstated to the main system, would you like anything else?" _

"Yeah." Taking a swig of the auburn liquor, Tony rubbed the glass between his hands a few times, before looking back up at the screen. "Play the video of the day Harry left."

* * *

Pepper was having a blast.

After the horror of not knowing if Tony was ok, and then finding out that Harry was back, the personal assistant was more than happy to lay back on the deck chair beside her future husband and just relax.

"Hey Pep?"

Opening her eyes, Pepper glanced over at the pale white Brit boy, and smiled. "What's up Har-bear?"

Ignoring the snort coming from the marksman to his left, and the indignant squeal that quickly followed, Harry hunched over his legs and shrugged. "I just wanted to see if we're still good."

Sitting up slightly at the mumbled words, Pepper threw her legs over the side of the chair, and frowned. "Of course we are," she assured, hoping that the rest would keep their noses out of it. "We sorted it all out the day we got here."

"I know." Plucking at a loose hem in the deck chair's cushion, Harry didn't know how to follow. "I just- I don't want to lose you too."

"Oh honey."

Clumsily transferring her arse from her seat to beside the wizard, Pepper wrapped her arms around the shorter man, and squeezed. "You scared me when you disappeared," she cooed. "That's why I was angry. We sorted this out, remember?"

Nodding, Harry gripped onto his best friend, and willed the tears to not fall. Apart from Tony, Pepper was the only one that knew about his entire history. About how he had been abused by his relatives and set upon by the Wizarding world. About how he had sacrificed himself to save the lives of his loved ones, and then awoken to find that he had died for naught. She even knew about how after the war, when the bodies were buried and the Wizarding world was back on its feet, that he had tried to kill himself multiple times; each time resulting in nothing more than a scar on his body, and an ache in his chest.

Pepper had been the first person since the deaths of everyone he cared for, that he had let into his heart. She had been the one to introduce him to the man he loved, and had been his rock when said man had gone missing.

Watching as his partner slowly ran her hand through the brunette's hair, Rhodey stood quietly and motioned for the others to do the same. This was one of the reasons he loved that woman, she was truly one of a kind.

Following the group of people that he had quickly come to see as potential friends, into the house, the dark eyed man had scarcely stepped through the door, when an empty glass came flying towards his head.

"What the hell?"

Dodging the projected missile just in time, Rhodey straightened back up, and found himself nose to nose with an extremely pissed off Tony Stark. Breathing deeply, Tony glared up at his friend, and snarled.

"Why the fuck was General Ross in on my rescue, and since when did the American Government line their pockets with my money?"

* * *

Tony was beyond pissed.

"Are you sure Jarvis?"

_"Positive sir."_

The image of Harry receiving the call played on the repeatedly on the television screen, but Tony no longer needed to see it. After the first few times, the video had burned itself into his brain, causing the engineer to shudder. The raw pain that his husband had shown was something that Tony never wanted to see again, it was just too much.

Placing the now empty glass down on the table, Tony glanced up and let his mind wander as the footage of a panicking Happy filled the screen. The phone call taken all those years ago had thankfully been traced, and Jarvis had followed it all back to...

"General Ross. Why would that dick want Harry to think I was dead? What would he have to gain? How did he even find out about us?"

_"Perhaps there was someone else involved sir."_

Pulling his hair in frustration, Tony glared up at the roof. "Yeah, but who? The only people that knew about us was Pepper, Rhodey and Ob- shit."

Jumping out of the seat, Tony bounded down the stairs and into the lab. "Jarvis!" he called out, flicking the main holographic table on. "Pull up the folder Pepper retrieved from Stark Industries, and anything that I had you lock down after Obadiah's death."

Watching as the files were pulled up, Tony sifted through the information hoping that he wouldn't find what he suspected was there. Obadiah may have attempted to take over his company, sell his weapons to both sides of the war, and have Tony assassinated, but he was still a better father figure than his own dad had ever been, despite how much Tony loathed to admit it.

"Fuck!"

Reading over the information twice, the billionaire flew up the stairs once more, and growled when he saw his army based friend walk back in. Feeling the sudden urge to show exactly how pissed he was, Tony picked up the first thing his could get his hands one; which happened to be his previously used glass, and hurled it at the man. Somewhere deep down he knew that it wasn't Rhodey's fault, but his anger against everything the man's uniform represented and worked for, had his vision blazing red.

"What the hell?"

"Why the fuck was General Ross in on my rescue, and since when did the American Government line their pockets with my money?"

"What are you going on about Stark?"

Ignoring the shocked team, Tony got right up in Rhodey's face and snarled. "Before Obadiah died, he and General Ross were working together on a project, and using my money to fund it and pass it through the government. It was one of Ross's men that called Harry and told him I was dead, and I want to know why! Why did Ross and Obadiah want me out of the way? Why did they want me and Harry apart?"

Glaring right back at the genius, Rhodey stomped down the urge to wipe the man's spit of his face, and ground out. "I don't know."

"Like bullshit you don't know!" Throwing his hands up in the air, Tony whirled around and stalked across the room. "Your army, you're the Army! When the Senator needs to send a missile, you're the one he calls. Hell, when the Head of Defence needs a consultant, you're the one they bring in! So don't tell me that you don't know James."

The use of Rhodey's first name was like a slap to the face. Stepping forward, Rhodey ignored the others as they quietly blended into the walls, and gave in to his primal urge.

BANG.

"I didn't sell you out Stark!" Shaking off the pain in his knuckles, Rhodey watched with a twinge of smugness as red blossomed across the billionaire's cheek. "I have no idea what's going on, and until you calm down and tell me, I won't be able to help."

"Oh Merlin!"

Stalking into the room, Harry made his way towards the glowering Stark, and tilted his chin. Pepper quickly followed, stopping only when she had the soldier's swollen hand in her own. "What on earth is going on here?"

Knowing that the still glaring pair wouldn't feel like answering, Clint moved forward and chipped in happily. "Well, we were giving you and the bag of magic tricks there some time alone, when Tony came flying at Rhodey, and got socked in the face for his trouble."

Seeing that the stubborn man was fine, Harry turned to face the archer, and raised an eyebrow. "And you didn't feel the need to step in?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Clint eyed the brunette and smirked. "It was more fun this way."

Not wanting to watch the wizard turn the idiot into a toad, no matter how much he deserved it at that moment, Coulson took a step forward and forced the attention onto himself.

"Mr Stark, could you please elaborate."

* * *

Why did he think that having the team in Malibu would ease his worries?

Glaring down at the screen, Fury felt the sudden urge to put his fist through it, but decided that maybe his old friend might not appreciate it.

"So you're telling me that Ross was in on Staine's plan to take over Stark Industries?"

"Yes sir. Mr Stark found evidence of Obadiah Staine bribing General Ross into helping him remove Mr Potter from the picture, in return for a secret project that an unknown has been working on for over four years."

It would bloody well figure that Stark would find this out. Fury had, of course, known about Staine's bribery and deceit, but he had never figured out how far it had ran. The sudden appearance of Thaddeus Ross, was not one that Fury could honestly say that he had been expecting. "Does Stark know anything else?"

"No sir." Staring up at the Director, Coulson let his lips flick slightly upwards. "In fact, the moment he informed us of what he had found, Mr Potter dragged him away. Neither have been seen since."

Snorting, Fury glanced up at the idiots surrounding him, and sneered. "Let me know if he finds anything else."

"Yes sir."

Raising his hand to end the video call, Fury hesitated for a second, and grinned. "And Coulson?"

"Yes sir?"

"Get them down to the playground. I don't want my squad going flabby."

* * *

"Tony, we need to talk."

Why did God have it out for him?

Groaning loudly at the words, Tony threw his hands up in the air, and flopped onto the bed. It was the first time since Harry had woken up that they were in their bedroom, and this was not how Tony had wanted it to go.

"I don't want to talk," he whined, the pillows muffling the words.

Sitting down on the edge of the bed, Harry rolled his eyes. "Well stiff shit, Tony, cause I do."

Knowing that it wouldn't work, but not quite ready to talk, Tony rolled over; lifting his leg so the brunette had a perfect view of his arse. "Are you sure," he whispered, licking his lips. "We could always put our mouths to more, entertaining projects."

Trying desperately not to laugh, Harry swatted at the wiggling arse. "I'm trying to be serious you twat."

"So am I!"

Getting up onto his knees, chocolate brown eyes raked down the giggling form, and smirked devishly. It had been too long since he had tasted that body, and after having the temptation under his nose for the last couple of weeks, he had had enough. Prowling across the bed, Tony gave the wizard a second's warning, before pouncing.

"Tony!"

Landing on the floor with the thick-headed lying on top of him, Harry wheezed for air. "Get off me robot!"

Laughing hysterically, Tony instead of getting off the shorter man, shifted himself into a better position and smeared kisses across any inch of pale skin he could find.

"Why would I get off you," he giggled, his lips dragging down his husband's neck. "When I finally have you right where I want you?"

Moaning desperately, Harry closed his eyes and fisted the shirt that was between his hands and the other's hot skin. "W-we need to talk Tony," he panted, hips lifting in defiance. "Stop distracting me!"

Knowing that the wizard would be pissed if they continued and didn't talk, Tony forced himself to pull away from the spread out plate of temptation, and huffed. "Ok," he muttered, refusing to look back down. "Ok, you have five minutes before I rip that smoking hot pair of jeans off that arse and fuck you into the ground. Talk."

Breathing deeply, Harry glanced up at his sex hazed husband and growled. "Talk can wait."

* * *

It was nearing midnight, and only the faint sound of metal hitting metal could be heard in the darkened room. The boom docks could be heard off in the distance, but that was nothing new. The man spent many a night in the lab without anything more than the night time sounds keeping him company. Tired, pale hands twitched under the dull desk light, fumbling with the many thin wires and tiny screws.

"Hank?"

Jumping at the sudden noise, weary blue eyes swivelled in their sockets, finally landing on the silhouette of a petite woman.

"Hey Jan," the rough, hardly used voice grated. "I thought you went to bed?"

"I did."

The sudden shift of the stale air told the man that the woman had moved to stand behind him, even as he shifted back to the technology spread in front of him.

"Hank, you need to sleep-"

"I will soon."

Placing a screwdriver back into the chest piece he had been working on, blonde hair ruffled as manicured fingers snaked their way through.

"I'm just worried about you."

The frustration and concern was visible even to the workaholic. Placing the tools back down once more, Blue eyes turned around and grasped the woman around her waist. She was so good to him, regardless of how much he pushed her away.

"I know," he murmured, the drain of working for so long finally kicking in. "Perhaps you're right. Maybe some sleep is a good idea."

Turning off the desk light, Hank latched onto Janet's offered hand, and walked out. He was almost done, one night's sleep wouldn't harm anything.

* * *

_Did I just hint at who the big baddie will be? (Grins evily)._


	7. Chapter 7

**Big double choc chip cookies to everyone that knew who Hank and Janet were! Now, here's the big question since I've noticed a few people are confused, what or should I say who, is Hank responsible for creating? The web is slowly coming together, and as the string pulls, will the Avengers fall? Need to read to find out! :)**

* * *

The next morning was not one overly enjoyed by all.

Dragging the genius philanthropist out of the bedroom by the ear, Harry had forced the man to sit down beside the still fuming Lieutenant and refused to remove the sticking charm keeping them there, until they had both talked it out. Needless to say, that took some time.

"_I'm not apologizing for something I didn't do Stark!"_

"_Yeah, well you should. It was the Army that did it, and you freaking bleed karki." _

"_And what about you? You threw a glass at my head!"_

"_It slipped?"_

It wasn't until the sun began to set, that the pair were finally allowed to move, despite Clint's begging to keep them there.

"C'mon," Hawkeye whined, his legs crossed in front of him with a bowl of cereal lying on top. "They still have hours of entertainment to give!"

"No Clint; and if you keep going, I'll stick your arse to the seat."

Rolling his eyes at the whole scene, Steve turned back to the frowning agent and grinned. Out of everyone in the house, the old war vet found that he was the most comfortable when he was around the blue eyed man. He couldn't explain why or how, it was just a bond that the pair had formed over time, and he wasn't going to start complaining about it.

Glancing down at the paperwork spread out across the kitchen table, thick blonde eyebrows scrunched together. It was quite common to see the SHIELD agent pouring himself into whatever file he was working, and it was one thing that Steve did not like. Don't get him wrong, he understood that what the shorter man did was important, but that didn't mean that he had to spend every waking minute focusing on it.

Sticking his tongue out at the paper work in rebellion, Steve looked back up at the muttering agent and took a long hard look. The man was tired; anyone could see that, but he was also overworked. The strain of the long hours and hard shifts was clear in the agent's slumped shoulders and piercing eyes. But there was also a flicker of happiness. Barely noticeable if you weren't looking for it, but to Steve it was as clear as day.

Reaching down for the satchel that lay beside his feet, Steve quietly dragged out his pad and paper, and shifted so that he was more comfortable.

"What are you doing Mr Rogers?"

The murmured words were barely audio, and yet they still caught the super soldier's ears. Shrugging in what he hoped was an indifferent way, Steve propped his leg up against the table, and placed the pad on his thigh. "Just drawing," he replied, the pencil already making its way gracefully across the paper. "And it's Steve, Mr Coulson."

Lifting his head slightly so that he could eye the Captain from under his lashes, Coulson beamed. "Then it's Phil, Steve."

* * *

Placing the last of the potatoes into a saucepan, Harry glanced over at the pair quietly sitting at the kitchen table, and indulged himself in a small quirk of the lips. Steve and Phil may not see it, but with each passing day, the rest of them were noticing how close they were becoming. The soldier would pull the agent away to eat and rest every now and then; and in return, the agent would catch the other back up on current events and social standards that the frozen man may have missed. It was as Clint liked to often chock out; 'very mushy'.

Watching as the super soldier focused intently on the drawing in front of him, as the unaware model continued to work through whatever papers Fury had forwarded on; Harry felt two firm hands wind their way around his waist, and grinned.

"Hey."

"Hey yourself."

Ignoring the lack of actual talking that had occurred the night before, the intimacy they had shared had helped them to heal. The fact that Tony was even showing affection to this degree, and Harry allowing him, was showing just how far they had come.

Placing his hands over the slightly larger ones wrapped around him, the wizard closed his eyes and moaned happily. This was what they were like, what they should have always been like...

_It was the first time in three weeks that Tony had come home before midnight, and the CEO had taken every advantage available. Ordering the finest dishes he could get from his favourite restaurant, the brunette had set everything up on the dining room table for a simple, romantic night in with his future husband and a bottle of wine._

_Placing his used napkin down beside the empty plate, Tony took a sip of his glass and grinned._

"_What's got you so happy?"_

"_You."_

_Soft candle light danced across Harry's face; his emerald eyes sparkling like no gem Tony had ever seen. Blushing lightly, Harry glanced down at the dazzling ring on finger, and looked back up through his lashes. "I think you've had too much to drink Mr Stark."_

"_I have not." Feeling the entire weight of the day lift off his shoulders, Tony reached across the table and tilted the man's chin so he could look at him dead on. _

"_I don't know what I've done to deserve you," he whispered, letting the side of him he usually kept hidden come through. "But I'm so glad that I did it."_

_The smile he received in return could have run his entire company. Moving his hand away from the soft flesh of the other's face, Tony felt a small pang of loss, till he reconnected again, gripping his love's hand._

"_Dance with me."_

_He knew the answer before he even received it; but this time he wasn't going to take no. Pulling the protesting brunette out of his seat, Tony muttered at Jarvis to play something soft, and began to sway. It was nothing flashy or show-offie, but that was ok. _

_It was just them._

_Locking eyes with the taller man, emerald eyes shone in the light. "You still didn't tell me what this was for," he whispered, leaning up to brush his lips against Tony's chin. _

_Struggling for breath, Tony leant down further and sucked the man's earlobe. "Did I need a reason?"_

"_No."_

"_Good."_

Smiling at the memory of one of Tony's many random dates; Harry tightened his hold on the arms around his waist, his head tilting back to lean against the other's collar bone.

The solid circle buzzing next to his ear had taken some getting used to; along with the engineer's low self esteem about it, but Harry never once hesitated to touch it during their passionate night of lovemaking. Breathing in deeply, Harry tightened his hold on his husband; swaying to a song that only he could hear.

"Have you figured anything else out?"

The sudden breeze through his hair was more than enough of an answer.

"You don't have to figure it out right away," he whispered, knowing that the lack of answers would be killing the man. "It's ok to not know everything."

Twirling the shorter man around, Tony wrapped his husband's arms around his shoulders; his own gently going for the neck. "I forgot just how wonderful you were," he muttered, leaning in so their foreheads were touching. "You still are the only person to look at me, and not expect me to be Tony Stark, billionaire, playboy, genius, philanthropist."

"Well then I guess we're even."

It was one of the many things that had drawn the pair towards each other. A life of having their faces plastered all over the magazines and people throwing themselves at them had caused the men to shy away from relationships and the headaches that were attached. Lowering his arm so it returned to the brunette's waist, Tony gently grabbed hold of the other, and slowly began to sway.

Feeling his body sluggishly move to the invisible tune, Harry chuckled softly. "I still can't dance."

"Then it's a good thing that we're not dancing."

The sways slowly picked up, and before the wizard could protest, he found his feet on top of the engineer's. "This is very demeaning," he grumbled, tightening the hold he had on the man's shoulders. "I feel like a child."

Scoffing, Tony waltzed his way around the kitchen bench. "You didn't complain when we got married."

"We were stone cold drunk."

"And your point?"

Laying his head down on the logo emblazed chest, Harry breathed in the deep oil and metal aroma that he had always defined as Tony's. "Do you remember that time you tried to cook for me?"

Stopping the leisurely steps, Tony glanced down at the mop of hair buried in his chest ludicrously. "You want to talk about that?"

Humming Harry rubbed his head up against the firm muscle and closed his eyes. "You nearly burnt the house down," he muttered.

"I was trying to be romantic."

"Jarvis still has photos of the whole thing."

Feeling the pressure of the wizard's weight finally build on his toes, Tony gently pushed him off and wrapped his arms around him. "Is there a reason you're bringing up my past failings?"

The question was asked in an almost vague way, but Harry could feel the weight that they carried. Tony was afraid that he was going to leave him again, and Harry couldn't say for certain that he wouldn't, that's why the genius would run or distract him every time he brought up their impending talk.

Removing himself fully from the other's clutches, Harry turned to face the bubbling potatoes, and clenched his teeth. He didn't want to do this, but they couldn't just rush in and act like they had never been apart. Tony was still hurting from it, he could tell, and despite the fact that the billionaire had never been with anyone else, Harry still needed to come to terms with it, and not the firm belief he had held onto since he found out the man was alive.

"We need some time apart."

An explosion could have happened right next to him and Tony wouldn't have even flinched. He finally got his husband back, and now he wanted to break up? Whirling the brunette around, the engineer gripped his arms tightly. He didn't care that his eyes were most likely red, or that his face was showing all the pain and desperation that was flooding him; he only cared that the emerald eyed man stayed there and didn't leave.

Unable to look into the chocolate brown eyes without feeling his chest tightening, Harry wrapped his arms around his husband's shaking shoulders, and choked back a sob. "It won't be forever," he promised, running his hands through the usually stylized hair. "We just need to do this slowly, that's all."

"But why?"

The desperation was almost killing the wizard.

"You know why. We've had so much happen between us, you died Tony; twice, and I just need to wrap my head around that. You never looked for me, and as far as you're concerned, I walked out on you." The anxiety was filling the wizard to his very core, but he had to do this. "Things are different now, and if we go rushing into it, we won't be the only ones affected. I'm not saying that we need to divorce; Merlin no! We just need to start back at the beginning and take this one step at a time, ok?"

Lifting his head off the brunette's shoulder, Tony stared down into the watery emerald eyes, and knew that he was right. They were going too fast, and if they suddenly hit a speed bump, then they were going to crash spectacularly. But that didn't mean that he liked it. No, he was going to go after every single one of the son of a bitches that did this to his happiness, and rip them apart. Surging forward, he placed every ounce of love and passion he held for the wizard into that one kiss, before pulling away.

Watching as the ruffled brunette stalked away, Harry couldn't stop from blurting out. "What are you doing?"

Not even glancing back over his shoulder, Tony snarled.

"I'm going to find the bastards that did this to us and watch them burn."

* * *

The night quickly died after Tony's abrupt departure to his lab.

Harry and Pepper retreated to her bedroom; Rhodey having left a couple of hours before hand when he received a call in from his commanding officer, leaving Natasha and Steve to finish dinner and serve up. Bruce disappeared with two plates not much later, saying that he was going to make sure that; as he put it, 'the dumbass with the wearable bottle rocket', didn't take off and go on a rampage.

Eating in silence, the four swiftly washed up and made their way into the lounge room. Rogers and Coulson sat beside each other, a reasonable gap between them; whilst Clint simply flopped his head down into the red head's lap and stretched the rest of his body out in the left over space.

Watching as Steve and Phil shuffled closer every now and then; Natasha ran a hand through dirty blonde hair and hummed. "It would seem that Stark and Potter are having another lover's quarrel," she mused, her fingers twisting a lock of hair.

Grunting, Clint stared at the random show the television was on, and shrugged. "It's their problem, they'll figure it out."

Not quite sure if that was the answer she was after, Natasha pulled harshly on the lock, forcing the blonde to turn his gaze to her.

"What was that for?"

"You seriously have to ask?"

Sitting up, Clint ignored the blushing virgins in the corner, and rounded on the assassin. "Yes, I really have to ask. What was that for Nat? You've been in a funk since we got here, and I can't deal with you going Jeckel/Hyde on me every five seconds."

Feeling the sudden itch in the palm of her hand, Natasha glared at the bewildered man. Forcing the strong urge to lean over and give the archer a black eye, the red head instead stood up and stalked her way out of the house; the glass door slamming behind her. If he didn't know what was getting her fur up, then fine, he could find somewhere else to sleep.

Watching his partner leave in a huff, Clint rubbed a hand over his face and grumbled. This was all Stark's fault.

"Clint, you should go after her."

Rounding on the sincere Captain, Clint sneered. "You think?"

"Barton," Coulson warned, his body unconsciously shifting to protect the abashed soldier. "That was uncal-"

"Oh screw the tin soldier already, why don't you."

Paying no attention to the sputtering coming from the blushing pair, or the heavy ball of guilt sitting in his stomach, the archer followed the path his partner took, and quickly found himself outside. The air was cool and crisp, cutting softy at his overheated cheeks as he glanced around for the missing red head.

Even in this state, he knew that she wouldn't go far; it was a survival issue that she had never quite ridden herself of, no matter how much she hated the fact. Finally catching sight of blood red clashing against moonlit skin, Clint sucked it up and slowly made his way towards her.

"I want to be left alone."

He didn't even need to see her face to know that she had been crying. Something that worried him greatly.

"Nat-"

"I said go away!"

Surging forward, Clint wrapped his arms around the struggling woman, and waited until she calmed down. Shifting so that they were both sitting comfortably, the archer ran his hand through the fiery red mane, and hushed softly.

"I'm sorry that I've done something to upset you cor meum," he whispered, grazing his lips over the exposed shoulder. "But you need to tell me what's going on in that determined head of yours."

Keeping her head down, Natasha wiped away the few tears still clinging to her cheeks, and hiccupped. "It's stupid," she muttered. "I shouldn't have said anything."

Placing two fingers under her chin, Clint forced the trained assassin to look up and face him. "It can't have been that stupid if it's got you this wound up. C'mon, I promise that I won't laugh."

They both knew that that was a lie, but the sentiment still made the red head's heart flutter. Eyeing the bright blue orbs that were two seconds off going into puppy dog mode, Natasha pulled back out of the archer's hold, and wrapped her arms around herself.

"I thought that you were going to leave me."

The whispered words took any humour Clint may have had left, and drowned it in the ocean below. "You- me- What?"

Glancing back up, Natasha huffed. "I thought that you were going to leave me," She repeated, hoping that she didn't have to again, or she was going to deck the idiot.

"Yeah, I heard that," running a hand through his hair, Clint glanced around for something to help him, but couldn't find anything. "But- why? What in Thor's kinky underwear drawer made you think that I would ever leave you?"

Shrugging, Natasha let her arms fall into her lap as her gaze moved out to the horizon. "You haven't exactly been yourself around me since the Chitari attack, and then Harry-"

The final puzzle piece clicked into place in Clint's mind. "You thought that I was going to leave you for Harry."

It wasn't a question, it was a statement, and the silent woman didn't have to reply for the marksman to know it was the truth. Reaching out, Clint dragged the shameful Natasha towards him, and enveloped her in a strong embrace.

"You told me all about him," she babbled, holding her arms against her chest between them. "And you always seemed so infatuated with him, and now here he is, and Stark's done something stupid again and-"

Placing a single finger on the trembling lips, Clint placed small, heartfelt kisses across her temple. "I did have a crush on Harry," he admitted, strengthening his hold when Natasha jerked back. "But, it was once upon a time, and nothing like how I feel for you."

Raising her head, hazel eyes glanced up at shinning blue. "And how is that?"

"Well..." Going back to the last spot he had brushed with his lips, Clint punctuated each sentence with a kiss. "My heart stops when you walk through the room. I can't breathe when you smile. I count each second until I can have you in my arms again. And when we're on a mission, I pray that you come out of it safe and whole, even if I get hurt because of it."

Natasha couldn't breathe. They were always open with each other; or at least more so than with the rest of the world, but this was the first time ever that the man before her had said anything close to romantic.

"I-I-"

Shushing her, Clint leant forward, and carefully sealed his lips over hers. There was none of the fire and heated lust that usually fuelled their kisses, but Natasha would mentally swear until the day she died, that it was the best kiss they had shared.

* * *

The next morning had started off like any other; each person slowly making their way out of whichever hole they had crawled into the night before...

...only to come face to face with a large picture of Director Fury on the living room screen.

Not quite sure if it was real or a nightmarish vision his sleep deprived hangover had superimposed over the television, Tony had made to walk straight past, but was stopped when a very real sounding Fury growled at him.

"_Stark get your arse back in here and sit down."_

Not able to form any kind of rebellion without at least two cups of coffee in his system, Tony wheeled back around and plonked down between Pepper and Natasha.

"What do you want Captain Crunch?" he yawned, rubbing his hand over his face. "As you can see, not all of us are morning people."

Glaring at the brunette, Fury twitched is head in negative, when Natasha lifted her eyebrow in question.

"_I've called this morning to announce your new group exercises, that start as of immediately."_

Rounding on the Agent sitting on the other side of Steve, Clint frowned. "You said that we were free to do what we want."

Still pissed with the archer about his behaviour the night before, Phil clenched his hands and scowled. "No," he corrected, ignoring the heat of everyone's gaze on his face. "I said that I was only here to make sure you didn't blow anything up. I never said that SHIELD wouldn't have orders for you."

"What the fuck?" Standing up, Clint made to storm out if the room, but stopped when Natasha ran after him.

"You knew that this was only temporary," she whispered, hoping to calm the man; their night had been wonderful after they had straightened out everything, and like bloody hell she was going to let this slight hiccup ruin it. "We are still SHIELD agents."

"_Not anymore."_

Whirling around to face the screen, the pair looked up at the Director and gaped. "What's that supposed to mean?"

The temperature of the room dropped considerably. SHEILD had been the only stable thing in the pair's lives; giving them a base to call home and an admittedly small network to rely on. For the Director to denounce that, was like a dagger to the heart. Knowing what this could potentially mean for the couple, the rest of the team glared up at the screen, but wisely stayed quiet. This was for the agents to work out, but if it came to it, they would have their back.

"_It means that as of this moment, Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton are no longer level nine agents of SHIELD."_

"THAT'S BULLSHIT!"

Roaring at the unruffled man staring at them through the screen, Clint moved to throw an ugly vase, that Tony had no idea why he had, but was quickly restrained by Steve and Tony.

"Did you know about this?" Glaring down at the man that had taken them in and treated them like his own, Natasha hoped to god that he would say no; but knew when he didn't reply, that it was true. "You knew? You knew and didn't try and stop him?"

Refusing to look up at the shaking red head or the fuming blonde, Coulson wrung his hands in his lap and gulped. "I asked him not to tell you like this," he answered, his voice barely wavering.

"How else was he going to tell us? With a big bright bouquet, and a fuck you very much?" Struggling against the hold the two men had on him, Clint glared holes into the screen.

"_If you let me finish,"_ Fury sparred, his voice drilling holes into the side of the assassin's head.

"No! Fuck you Fury! We did everything you asked us, and this is how you repay us? Go sit on it and fuck yourself!"

"Clint-"

"Don't you dare talk to him!"

Not sure where this was going, but knowing that the Director was a man for theatrics, Harry patted a wide eyed Pepper on the shoulder, before stepping onto the couch and whistling loudly. "I swear it's the Helicarrier all over again," he muttered, waiting for everyone to shut up and face him.

Motioning for everyone to sit down, emerald eyes made sure that Steve still had a good hold on the marksman, and Phil was as far away from the two former agents as possible, before turning back to the screen and raising an eyebrow. "Now," he huffed, folding his arms in his 'no nonsense' way. "Finish what you've got to say, and don't continue with the dramatics, or I swear to Merlin that I'll sink your battleship. You know I will."

Eyeing the shortest person in the room, Fury thought the possibility over for a moment, and nodded. _"As I was saying before Agent Barton began his detailed account of what I can do," he growled, flicking his glance over to the still snarling man. "Barton and Romanoff are as of now, no longer level nine Agents. The Council has just signed off on the Avenger's Initiative becoming a classified Secret Sub-Agency of SHIELD, and anyone involved, having the clearance of Special Agents. Congratulations gentlemen and lady, the Avengers have just become official."_

* * *

The shock had still yet to set in.

After the Director dropped his bomb, he had passed off the details and questions to Coulson; stating that he had better things to than listen to Stark go on about how _'they needed him, they really needed him'_.

Coulson had taken the transfer of attention quite well, and had even sat quietly when Natasha walked up to the man and slapped him across the face.

"_Don't ever do that that to us again Phil, or I'll cut out your tongue while you sleep." _

Once the he was sure that the others had gotten any form of violence towards him out of their minds, the now Special Agent forced the group; minus Pepper, into their superhero suits, and pushed them into the waiting SUV.

They had a long day awaiting them.

"Holy hell."

There were no words to describe the monstrosity that they had been dumped in. Not that Clint wasn't trying.

Rolling his eyes at the blonde as he went through his array of curse words; alphabetically, Steve eyed the massive white room they had been pushed into, and whistled. The building could have fit ten football fields in it easily and still have room for the crowds...

But there was nothing in it.

Following Coulson quietly as he clipped his way across the room, Steve glanced over at his fellow team members and frowned. They looked just as confused and bone weary as he felt; the emotional rollercoaster of the last two days finally taking its toll.

Stopping suddenly, Coulson whirled around on the spot, and stared at them. His standard 'agent' smirk sliding into place. "I would like to be the first to introduce you all to Hanger 96."

Feeling the need to glance around again, Steve let his eyes wander to the roof, before the man's voice caught his attention once more.

"The object of the game is to capture the flag."

The night before and then the excitement of that morning had been hard on everyone; that much was obvious, but that wouldn't deter Coulson from his plans for the day. Eyeing up the red faced and half asleep super heroes lined up before him, the agent couldn't help the slight wince as he thought about what they were about to do.

"This room has been specially designed for you to train, and when we return to New York, there has been a similar room installed into the Avenger's Tower. The walls have been fortified so even the Hulk will take some time getting through them. The ro-"

Glancing over his sunglasses at the primped and proper Agent, Tony slurped at his 7/11 slurppie, making sure that it was loud and annoying. "Yeah," he popped, smacking his lips together. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't play kiddie's games, so I'm going to sit over there and sleep off this hangover."

"Stark stay."

Not even a step out of line, Tony glared up at the agent, but did not move.

"Why are we even here?" he whined, the slurppie sloshing around in its container as his armour hands waved around. "What does a piece of cloth have to do with training?"

Not liking the way the genius was acting, Steve turned to him. "If you had listened to Phil on the way over-"

"Phil?" Rounding on said agent, Tony frowned. "How come everyone else gets to call you Phil but I don't? Are you that pissed that I broke house arrest?"

"Can we please just get back to what we're supposed to be doing?"

Shushing the doctor up with a wave of a hand, Tony glanced from Coulson to Steve, and then back again. If it had been a cartoon, the others would have been able to see a light bulb come to life over the billionaire's head, as he came to a conclusion. "You two are doing it!"

Feeling heat spread across his face and down his neck, Steve glared at the whooping brunette, and shook his head. "We are not doing anything Stark, and even if we were, it would be none of your business."

"Oh you two are so doing it," Tony crowed, ignoring the huffing super soldier. "And if not, then very soon. So who's on top? I bet it's Coulson! Does the Cap have a shield fetish that we don't know about? C'mon, we're supposed to be shar-"

Not noticing the unamused wizard walking up behind him, Tony gave a startled yelp when his suit was pulled backwards, forcing him onto the ground. Hacking for air, brown eyes widened slightly as they caught sight of the single finger pointing at him.

"If they don't ask about our sex life, then you aren't allowed to ask about theirs, understood?"

Pouting, Tony eyed the finger for another moment before reluctantly nodding and being allowed back up. Glowering at the sniggering idiots that were meant to be his teammates, Tony lifted his armoured hand to take another sip of his slurppie, but found that it was no longer there.

Breaking out into full blown giggles, Bruce clapped the billionaire on the back as he looked down forlornly at the puddle of slurppie goodness, before turning him back around to face the smirking Agent and smug Captain. Shifting slightly to readjust his suit, Coulson inclined his head in thanks towards the once again silent wizard, before he continued.

"As I was saying, this was originally created for the research and development of new possible weapons; but over the last week, the Director and I have been able to transform it into a new playground. It is reinforced to the point that even the Hulk would take some time to break through. Everything else is replaceable."

Moving to leave, Coulson made it half way back to the door they had entered from, and twirled back around. "Oh, and one more thing," he called back out, the grin on his face getting wider. "Have fun."

The click of the man's heels was the only thing that could be heard as he left the team in the middle of the room. Steve had no idea what was going on, and as he glanced around at the others, he could tell that they were in the same boat.

* * *

Harry could tell the moment that Coulson opened the warehouse doors, that he wouldn't like what was inside. Glaring at the smug bastard's back, emerald eyes steeled over as the heavy metal door slid shut, locking them inside.

"Well," Bruce quipped, not exactly liking the caged feeling. "Anyone got an idea of what's going on?"

Opening his mouth to no doubt say something snarky, Clint left it hanging, when the whooshing sound of something opening caught his attention. Whirling around, the team watched as a metal pole rose from the ground; a plain white flag tied to the top. It was a sight that brought back bad memories to much of the group of lives that they no longer wished to remember.

"Is this what Phil meant?" Steve asked, obviously having no clue what was going on. "We just have to get the flag? I thought that this was a kid's game?"

Shrugging, Tony finally gave up on the thought of sleep, and focused on the possibility of blowing things up. "I have no idea what Pinocchio was going on about, but if the only way we're getting out is by grabbing that tissue..."

Swaggering forward, Tony was ten paces away from the pole, when Harry finally clicked back to reality.

"Tony," he barked; the warning clear in his tone. "Don't."

Turning back around, Tony eyed his husband. "What's got your knickers in a twist? It's just a flag."

How was it his genius of a husband could be such an idiot?

"It's a bit more than that." Glancing around, emerald eyes widened slightly, when he realized that the others had no clue what was going on. "None of you have played this game?"

Shaking their heads, Natasha and Clint kept their focus on the unassuming walls, whilst Bruce and Steve stared at the shorter man.

"It's a strategy game," he grimaced, the memories of a chubby kid chasing after him resurfacing. "There are two teams, each have a flag that the other has to capture and return to their base. First to do wins. Coulson has simplified it, so that there is one flag and we only have to retrieve it, not return to base."

"So what's so difficult about that?"

Sending a withering look over at the blonde archer, Harry turned back to his husband that was slowly inching towards the pole. "What's difficult about it, is that the opposing team is now focusing their entire energy, on protecting their flag; and since it's SHIELD we're playing with, you can imagine how much force it is."

Tony was only three feet away from the pole now, and the need to grab the white cloth was incredibly tempting. The thought of more slurppies and possibly sleep was just too appealing. Scoffing at his husband's warning, the genius lifted his foot to take one last step...

...when the entire room seemed to wake.

* * *

"Why don't you ever listen to me?"

"I said I was sorry! What else do you want?"

They weren't sure how long they were going at it, but Natasha was getting sick of being fired at. Rolling her eyes at the bickering couple flying around the top half of the warehouse, the red head ducked just in time to see a red and silver blur whizz past her nose.

"That was a bit too close for comfort Cap."

Knowing that the soldier was blushing without looking at him, the assassin took a running leap towards the block of debris created by the Hulk, and found herself beside a firing archer.

"We're not doing jack!" Clint shouted, machine guns and mini explosions going off all around them. "The lovebirds are just bickering, Mighty Green is swinging around like this is a monkey gym, and the rest of us are getting capped in the arse."

Nodding in agreement, Natasha fired at the machine gun focused on her, and grinned when the shot hit its wiring. "Harry said something about this being a strategy game didn't he?"

"I don't know," he confessed, a smug grin stretching across his face. "I was too busy checking out your rack."

It was only because of the Hulk landing next to him at that very moment that the blonde didn't end up on the ground holding his nose. They may have patched things up, but that didn't mean that she was going to let the archer jeopardize the mission because he was too busy ogling her. Glancing up at the big guy for a split second to make sure that he wasn't about to hit them with anything, Natasha was slightly surprised when instead, she found the green rage monster just sitting there, holding onto a machine barrel that he had ripped out of the wall.

"You ok man?"

Nodding, Hulk turned the gun over in his hands a couple of times, before looking up at the pair. "Bruce say need flag. Stop guns."

Having never heard the mountain of muscle speak before, Natasha stopped firing for a second and eyed the green wall. "That's what we're trying to do," she yelled, the explosions getting to the point of deafening.

Shaking his head, Hulk awkwardly stood once more; his hand lifting to cover his face from the attack one gun was aiming at them. "Bruce say Star Man make plan."

Feeling stupid for not coming to the conclusion quicker, Natasha turned to Clint and raised an eyebrow. "Cover me?"

The capture of the flag went much more smoothly after that.

Steve came up with a plan that involved Harry dropping a weapon free Natasha into the electromagnetic field surrounding the flag, while Steve and Clint covered them, and Tony and Hulk took out the bigger guns. It wasn't the best of plans, but it worked, and at the moment that was all they cared about.

Handing the slightly dirty cloth over to the amused looking Coulson, Harry glared up at the man and growled. The rest of the sweat and grime covered team standing behind him.

"Tell Fury next time we play this game, I'll take it to his place and shove that flag where the sun don't shine."

* * *

Fury was not impressed.

Glaring down at the monitor, the Director eyed each member of his supposedly 'elite' team, and growled. "That was the worst test run I have ever seen, and that's saying something."

The words had little effect on the stubborn team. Not even Banner looked away.

"What happened to the teamwork I saw not even a month ago?"

If it wasn't for Coulson shifting every few seconds, Fury would have almost sworn that he was talking to an image. Closing his eyes for a second, the Director hoped that what he was about to do would work, if not, then he was sure that he would have a group of highly skilled people tearing down his ship.

"The Tower is in the last bits of reconstruction," he announced, his face showing no emotion what so ever. "When it is complete, you are to return to New York, and continue your training there. There will be no life outside that building. You will eat as a team, you will train as a team, you will live as a team. I will have further orders once you return."

Watching as the screen turned blank, Bruce glanced over at the rest of the group, and raised an eyebrow.

"What does he think we've been doing?"


	8. Chapter 8

As the week passed, the house and those residing within it fell into a somewhat stable; if erratic, routine. Steve, Natasha and Harry would cook breakfast for everyone before; one by one, they disbanded and went off to do their own thing. Coulson would retreat to a quiet corner he had claimed as his, and order agents around, while filling out paper work; Steve following him like a loyal puppy. Natasha and Clint would disappear, to where? No-one was game enough to ask. Tony would either join Bruce down in the lab or be pulled out the door by Pepper, demanding office time and paperwork; while Rhodey went back to base, leaving Harry to sit around the house and catch up on things that they hadn't had a chance to do.

The night of disorder was never brought up. It was quickly labelled taboo, and whilst the group would graze upon it every now and then, it was never spoken about out right.

Glancing down at the papers sprawled out across the coffee table, Harry ignored the muffled laughter from the pair in the next room, and focused on the photos in front of him. After the fall of Voldemort, the Death Eaters had mostly disbanded, for fear of being caught and thrown into Azkaban. Some like Fenrir Greyback and Rabasten LeStrange, however, were still at large, and even fourteen years after the fact, were causing trouble wherever they tread.

Taking in everything from the sneer on the Pureblood's face, to the blood and dirt covering the man's clothes, Harry skimmed back over the information that came with the photos, and groaned. Once the dust had settled and the bodies of all his loved ones had been found, the brunette had sworn that he would never return. Kingsley; one of the last remaining Order members and now Magical Minister, had understood and accepted his decision, only on the term that the Saviour kept in touch and answered his call if something truly dire came up.

This was it.

_Mr Potter,_

_I hope to find you well, but after the recent accounts of the attack in New York, I would find that highly unlikely. There is no way of doing this but to be blunt, so here it is; from what our sources have gathered, Rabasten LeStrange and a group of rogues have been planning to take over the Muggle leaders of the major countries, and through them, force the Magical World out into the open. Potter; Harry, I cannot express how important it is that this does not happen. The rest of the Magical Leaders and I agree that we cannot go after this group as we normally would. I am requesting, no- I am asking, from one Order member to another, please help. The Aurors have no idea what they are up against, and from the rumours I have heard, you have become very much accustomed to what I am asking. The full statement is in the folder, if you accept, I will meet with you on the thirteenth, if not, then I understand._

_I hope you found what you were looking for Harry, we all miss you._

_Kingsley Shaklebolt._

He was right; Harry had become very accustomed to what the Minister was asking. Tossing the letter back down on the table, the brunette didn't so much as flinch as he felt a larger body sit stiffly down beside him.

"That looks like a headache."

Nodding, Harry placed his entwined fingers to his lips, and hummed. "It is," he agreed, finally looking up at his husband. "But nothing I can't handle."

Grabbing the letter, Tony briefly glanced over it, his eyebrows rising with each line. Finally flicking the thing back onto the pile, Tony sipped from his ever trusty glass, and turned to face the shorter man. Things were still tense between them, not for the lack of trying on each of their parts. The need to just grab each other and never let go was consuming the pair, but both knew that if they were going to do it, then they had to do it right.

"So this, Shaklebolt, wants you to go international and clean up their mess again," he mused, the steel glint in his eyes barely hidden. "Are you going to do it?"

Shrugging, Harry gave into the need to be close to the man, and shifted so that he was leaning against him. "If I don't, then a lot more lives will be lost, and the Wizarding World will become front page news."

"Is that really a bad thing?"

Harry knew that his husband was a truly remarkable man, but even he could be astounded by how stupid he could be. "Yes Tony," He stated, face dead serious. "That could be really bad. Not all muggles are as accepting of the unusual as you and the rest of the team. For them to suddenly find out that there really is magic out there, would cause two things; mass hysteria and an expectation for us to fix every problem. But magic can't solve everything. People will still die, accidents will still happen, and with us being exposed, it will give the muggles a massive target to blame."

Wrapping his arm around the brunette's waist, Tony wrinkled his face in confusion. "But can't you lot shield yourselves, I mean, you're not exactly defenceless."

"Not," Harry agreed, his hand making its way to the other's knee. "But that doesn't mean that wizards can't still be hurt or killed. Bullets and bombs work just as well on them as it does muggles."

Kissing the top of the messy mop of hair, Tony grinned. "You're just the exception."

Humming, Harry closed his eyes and frowned. He shouldn't have even been sitting on that couch, they both knew it; but it was just as Tony thought of his arc reactor...

...it was just something that he had to get used to.

Running his hand through the wild, untameable hair buried in his chest, Tony glanced back at the paperwork, and sneered. He really didn't like the thought of the man leaving his side, but he knew that the wizard would go. It was just something that he had to do.

Placing another kiss on his husband's forehead, the engineer closed his eyes and sighed. "When do you have to leave?"

"A week from tomorrow."

"Promise me you'll come back."

The words were whispered, but Harry still caught them. Lifting his head, emerald eyes seeked out chocolate brown, and smiled softly.

"Always."

* * *

"Are you lot trying to get each other killed?"

It was their fifth run through since the warehouse had been introduced to the team, and after the 'success' of the first run, Fury had made it his duty to oversee each following one through satellite. Glaring down at the panting group, the Director took in the scuff marks and dinted walls, and growled.

"This is not what I saw when you took down the Chitari. What will it take to get you to work together like the team you are capable of being?"

"A slurppie machine?"

Covering his snort from Stark's remark, with a quick cough, Clint refused to look at the fuming man as he eyed the team.

"There was something there," the Director stated; with dare they say it, a hint of pride. "It was something that I've rarely seen before, and I refuse to let you lot rest until I see it again. Coulson reset the system."

"What?"

"We've just been through this!"

"Can't we just-"

Holding his hand up to silence them, Fury glared through the screen and huffed. "Unless you lot can show me what I saw a month ago, then you will not be leaving this room. Again."

Turning from the projection on the screen, Clint turned to the battered and bruised team, and snarked. "Well, what do we do now?"

Clutching onto his pants a little more tightly, Bruce glanced over his shoulder and shrugged. "We give the Director what he wants."

"But what is it he wants?"

That was the sixty-four dollar question.

Glancing from one member to the other, Clint shrugged. "All I remember from that mission was the near losses and dislocated shoulder."

"So what?" Tony asked, his suit looking like a tiger had decided to use it a scratching post. "Cyclops wants us to continuously suffer near death experiences? Don't we do that already?"

Not bothering to reply to the billionaire, Steve mused over the information. It was true, the battle seemed to have been one team member nearly dying after another, but there was multiple scenes that stood out in his mind.

_"Steve? Yo, Cap?"_

_"__Yeah. We're fine, just som-"_

_"__Captain! Stop gossiping with my husband and start paying attention. I won't save your arse a second time."_

"_Oh god. Don't you ever, and I mean __**ever**__, do that to me again. Do you hear me?"_

"_None of this is going to mean anything if we don't get that portal closed." _

"_Tony said that none of our guns would work."_

"_Well what if it doesn't have to do with guns?"_

"_Stark, you've got some sniffing your tail."_

"_Yeah, I've got them. Any suggestions?"_

"_Well they can't bank for shit. Find a good corner."_

"_All yours Cap."_

" _Hawkeye, I want you on that building, eyes on everything. Call out any strays or tactics. Stark I want you doing perimeters, anything get out four blocks, you turn it back or turn it to ash. Thor, we need to bottleneck the portal until we can close it. You've got the thunder, use it. Light them up. Widow you're with me, we're going to keep it going down here. Keep them away from the civilians. Harry, you're the wild card. Hit them hard, hit them fast, and keep an eye out for the rest of us. Anyone runs into trouble, I want you there. Hulk! Smash."_

"We're not working as a team."

Lifting his head to face the rest of the team, Steve ignored the slack-jawed look on the billionaire, and drove on. "We're not working together," he repeated.

"Uh, then what do you call what we've been doing?"

Waving his hand in a shushing motion, Steve barely stopped himself from hitting his head repeatedly against his shield. How could he have been so stupid to not pick up on it earlier? It was one of the main things that had made his squadron back in the war such a deadly threat.

"We're fighting together," he agreed, feeling a slight thrill over the fact that he was the one to figure it out and not Stark or Banner. "But we're not watching out for each other."

Realizing what the blonde was trying to point out, Harry felt the same urge to hit his head repeatedly. "We're acting as separate units, not a functioning machine."

Pointing at the wizard, Steve grinned. "Exactly! During the fight, we had positioned ourselves so that we were keeping an eye out for one another, but here it's just-"

"Every man for himself."

The conclusion was more than anyone was prepared to deal with. Whilst it was true, them working so fluidly had been out of necessity, not want. Each one of them was more than use to dealing with everything by themselves, and the sudden realization that they could have people to rely on was not one that they wanted to care for.

Shifting slightly on the spot, Bruce hiked his pants up once more, and asked the one question that was going through everyone's mind.

"So how do we do this?"

The moment the super soldier opened his mouth, Harry knew what needed to be done. Glancing around the room as it slowly came back to life, the wizard turned back to the team and exhaled loudly.

"We need to formulate a plan. Cap, you're the leader."

"Whoa, wait a second, who voted that Steroid Ken got to be leader?"

Rolling his eyes, Harry turned to face his protesting husband and huffed. Out of everyone here, he should have known that it would be the idiot he was married to that would have a problem with the Captain giving orders. "Out of everyone here, Rogers is the best trained for the job."

Nodding in agreement, Natasha and Bruce smiled at the blushing soldier, whilst Clint patted him on the back. "You really are," the archer muttered. "Me and Nat know shit about running a team, that's why we're such awesome solo artists."

"The Other Guy doesn't exactly leave much room for ordering others," Bruce admitted, the recent connection forming between his two sides making it easier to talk about the green rage monster.

Not taking his eyes off the gaping Iron Man, Harry folded his arms over his chest. This was going to happen, and Tony was going to have to just suck it up. "He is going to be the team leader, Tony."

He knew that he had lost, but that didn't mean that he was going to back down.

"What about you," the engineer floundered, pointing a metal covered arm at his husband. "You were in a war too. You lead your side to victory! They wouldn't have done what they did without you leading them."

All signs of any emotion quickly made their way off the wizard's face. Even after so many years, the war was still a touchy subject for the wizard; sending him into a spiralling depression when he mused on it for too long. Ignoring the faces of the long since dead and buried and memories of the mass graves burning on the school's once beautiful landscapes, Harry rounded his burning emerald eyes on the still rambling brunette.

Picking up on the brunette's displeasure, Tony quickly tried to back-pedal, but only made it worse. "I'm sorry, wrong thing to say, but you said it yourself, you did command them- shit! No, wait- I didn't mean it like that. Harry? Har- what are you doing? Harry put that down!"

Dodging the chunk of machinery the Hulk had ripped out of the wall earlier, Tony turned back just in time to see his husband stalk out the door; an almost visible storm cloud hanging over his head. Shifting the marksman so that she could reach, Natasha reached out and clipped the genius up the back of the head.

"What the hell did you do to him?" she snarled, her eyes not leaving the raging silhouette.

"I don't know!"

Wincing as a loud bang rang through the room, Bruce glanced over at his lab partner. "I think you may have sparked something."

Twirling around, Steve pinched his eyebrows together. "What do you mean?"

"Well, by saying what he did; no matter how stupid it was, Tony may have triggered a very unpleasant memory of Harry's, causing him to let whatever thought it is, to overwhelm him." Not quite sure whether to continue, Bruce waited to see if the soldier understood.

"So you're saying that Harry has trigger words?"

Lifting his shoulders, Bruce made an indecisive noise. "Not so much words; although in this case yes, but they're usually actions. We subconsciously avoid the triggers, and if we do come face to face with one, then our minds react in the two best ways we know how; panic and rage."

Nodding, Steve glanced over at the warehouse door and sighed. "I think I know what you're talking about," he admitted. "During the war, I remember men being shipped back home and not being able to deal with certain situations because it reminded them too much of the fighting."

"It's still occurs," Clint admitted, his face dead serious for a change. "SHIELD agents are assessed every three months for signs of PTSD."

Knowing that they weren't going to get any further; what with one member awol and another too busy thinking about how to apologise, Steve motioned for the group to exit the room. They would be leaving Malibu the next day anyways, and the last thing Steve felt like dealing with, was a grumpy and tired team.

* * *

"I said I was sorry! That's more than anyone else gets, so why can't you forgive me?"

The yelling had been going since they returned to the house, and the group was getting ready to knock the pair out. Flicking another pea at the closed bedroom door, Clint growled lowly as the volume of the shouting rose once more.

"I'm your husband! Of course I should get more than anyone else, you dick!"

"Can you pass the salt?"

Sliding the shaker across the table, the archer watched as it was stopped by Coulson before it hit the end of the table.

"Thanks."

"God you sound like another fucking gold digger!"

"Don't you dare compare me to one of those two-faced bimbo sluts!"

"Well if the shoe fits!"

The sound of something breaking was perfectly timed with the wince that ran across the dining table. Keeping his head down, Bruce measured each breath in time with the clock on the wall. His recent work with the Hulk had helped severely with their relationship, but the use of meditation still helped when tensions rose.

"Do you think that they'll be done soon?" he asked, refusing to take his eyes away from the table.

Shrugging, Coulson stabbed at his pork chop. "If their former fights have given us any insight, they will calm down in another three minutes, and start yelling again in eight."

Watching the clock behind them, Natasha and Clint raised their eyebrows when dead on three minutes, the yelling died down.

"That's a powerful gift Coulson," Clint muttered, his eyes still on the clock. "Let's see if you've got two for two."

The room fell silent, not even the scrap of cutlery cutting through tension. Eyeing the ticking timer, Clint counted each second, until exactly eight minutes...

_Thump, thump, thump..._

"_Ugh, T-Tony."_

"_Fuck, Harry, god...mmm."_

Throwing his hands up in the air, Clint turned to the smug agent and scowled. "You must swear to use your powers for good and not evil, Coulson; for that, right there, is just scary."

Picking up the now empty plate, Coulson stood from the table, and made his way into the kitchen. "I have no idea what you're talking about Barton. I suggest that you all head to bed soon, tomorrow is going to be a long day."

* * *

It was complete.

After years of tirelessly working and perfecting, it was ready.

"Hank? General Ross is on the phone."

Whirling around on his swivel chair, tired blue eyes took in the petite red head standing in the doorway, and grinned widely. Standing up, the scientist made his way over, and placed his hands on her arms.

"Just in time," he beamed, the bags under his eyes magically disappearing. "It's done."

Grass green eyes widened in surprise. After standing in the shadows and watching the man drain himself into the government officiated project, Janet could hardly believe her ears.

"A-are you sure?" she stuttered, not wanting to get her hopes up. "Is it really finished?"

Bopping his head up and down, Hank laughed wildly as the young woman squealed in delight and wrapped herself around him.

"Oh Hank! I can't believe it! I was worried there for a while, but I knew if anyone could do it, it would be you."

Twirling the red head around, Hank kissed the top of her head. "Ross still has to add his bit," he admitted. "And Mr Stark will want to see what his designs and money have come up with, of course, but it is done; the world's first truly sentient artificial intelligence. It will behave and act just like a human, and will one day even take over the army so no-one else needs to die."

Pulling back, Janet grabbed the blonde's hand, and grinned. "You are brilliant, you know that? Stark may have made the designs, but you were the one to follow them through. What are you going to name it?"

Glancing over at the gleaming metal body of what he would one day look upon as his mark to better mankind, Hank smiled happily.

"Its name is Ultron."

* * *

"I have just been informed that the media circus is waiting for us when we arrive, so-"

"I'll distract them, while you lot sneak in."

Glaring at the arrogant billionaire, Coulson eyed the rest of the team, and sighed. The night had been a long one, and the trip back to New York even worse. Pepper had followed them back; of course, and after dealing with six very bored superheroes on a plane for a couple of hours, Phil had been ready to tazzer the lot of them. Now riding in the back of Stark's generously loaned limo, the agent tried to fill the team in on what was about to happen.

Raising an eyebrow in question, Coulson smirked happily when the wizard replied by hitting the peacock of a man in the ribs with his elbow.

"As I was saying," he continued, only to be stopped by the peacock's assistant.

"Actually, Tony's idea isn't that bad." Refusing to back down, Pepper stared right back at the agent. "I mean, out of everyone, he does have the skills to take care of any questions-"

"This is why I keep her! Fist bump!"

"-I'll be right beside him, and it will stop the media from camping outside the building until they get a statement," she finished, ignoring the fist that was still waving in her face.

Knowing that it was going to happen whether the agent agreed to it or not, Coulson bowed his head in agreement, before sliding the folders in his hands into the briefcase Steve held open.

"We're almost there," Natasha mused, her head craning to see out the window. "Tony, you ready?"

Tightening his grip on Harry's waist, Tony wiped on his sunglasses and slapped on his best 'media darling' smile. "Honey I was born ready."

Stepping out of the limo just in time to miss the fist heading his way, Tony turned to face the flashing cameras and hysterical reporters quickly making their way towards them. "It's ok," he announced, his arms spread wide. "Iron Man is back."

Stalking his way across the footpath, the engineer motioned for the others to make their way to the Tower, while he smiled mockingly to the media. "Yes, yes, the awesome team is back. No, we will not be signing photos at this moment in time-"

Waiting for the mess to crowd around him and force their microphones into his face, Tony was shocked when the crowd walked straight past him, and headed for the last person to get out of the limo.

"Mr Potter!"

"Harry Potter, Saviour of the Wizarding World-"

"-sources say that you been hiding-"

"Your file says that you're married? Where is this wife?"

"-Boy Who Lived is currently-"

Gaping as the circus swarmed around the startled wizard, pinning him between them and the car, Tony stood there for a second, before coming to his senses.

"OI!"

Silencing almost immediately, the crowd of reporters spun around to face the agitated billionaire.

"Now that I have your attention." Picking his way through the crowd, Tony made his way to his pale husband's side, and wrapped his arm around the shorter man. "My husband and I have serious business to attend to, if you would like to make an appointment with my assistant, she will organise a press conference for another time."

Forcing his way back through the crowd, Tony half dragged his still shocked husband up the stairs, and into the awaiting elevator Coulson was holding open. The doors closing before anyone else could follow. Eyeing the wizard's blank face with worry, Tony ignored the surprised looks from the others, and wrapped the slowly coming to Harry, in a loving hug.

Knowing that the brunette would be fine, Coulson couldn't help himself. "I thought that you had it covered?"

"Shut up."


	9. Chapter 9

By the time the elevator had made it to the top floor, the emerald eyed saviour had come out of his shock, and began fuming.

"I mean seriously," he growled, storming his way down the newly constructed hallway and into the kitchen. "Do they think that just because they know how to blend in better with muggles and use magically powered mics that they can attack me whenever they bloody want? And what if the muggle paparazzi had been there? Idiots!"

Eyeing the fuming wizard from the safety of the still open lift, the team as one turned to face the magic user's husband, and stared.

"Are you going to go after him?"

Whipping around to face the red headed assassin, Tony gawked. "Are you kidding me? I like my dick where it is thanks."

Not sure what to do, but knowing that it was pointless to sit there all day, Steve decided that they were going to have to get used to things like this, and stepped out of the lift. "Well," he huffed, hitching his bag strap up higher on his shoulder. "We might as well get settled in. Stark, you want to show us where we'll be staying?"

Wincing as the muttered words of castration and impending doom hit his ears, Tony shook his head. He had pushed the brunette far enough the day before, and even though they had had some mind blowing sex after and sat together on the trip back, that did not mean that the wizard was even close to letting him near enough to comfort him just yet. Nope, best leave him to the stereo and his baking for a few hours.

"Your rooms are the same as before." Pushing the rest out of the elevator, Tony quickly made sure that no luggage was left, and pressed the button for the floor below.

Watching as the billionaire turned tail and run, Bruce glanced over his shoulder as he heard something heavy hit the kitchen floor. "What do we do about Harry?"

"Just let him go," Tony called out, the doors already sliding close. "And don't talk to him until he speaks."

Staring at the metal doors covering the smirking genius, Coulson flinched once more as another clang was heard. "Why do I volunteer for these missions?"

* * *

The Helicarrier was floating aimlessly over the coast of Canada, with not so much as a screw out of place. After the battle with Loki, it had taken the Director little time to get his ship back up to scratch, and even less to perfection.

Watching from his position on the helm as wisps of clouds streamed past, Fury; if only in his mind, could honestly say that he was bored. Not that that wasn't a good thing; for him to admit such a thing, meant that there was no villain that needed rounding up or plot that had to be unfurled, but the lack of action was slowly starting to get to him.

Lips twitching as the sound of heels hit his ears, Fury waited for the Agent to announce her presence, before turning around.

"Sir, Agent Coulson has just patched in. They arrived with no trouble and are currently settling in."

"Excellent."

Measuring up the woman beside him, Fury knew that he couldn't have picked a better second in charge. Agent Hill was strong, independent, and didn't take crap from no-one but him. She was everything he had hoped for in his right hand; and whilst she was still rough around the edges and needed to learn some home truths, she would one day make a fine successor.

Turning back to the front, Fury grinned. "Don't forget, its Special Agent now."

Rolling her eyes, Hill stepped closer so that she was right beside him. "How can I forget?" she snarked, her guard dropping. "Every time he calls in, he has to announce it. I don't even see why he has to be there."

Raising an eyebrow, Fury coughed. "Could you imagine what that team would get up to if Coulson wasn't there? What Stark would get up to?"

Shuddering at the thought, Hill glanced up at her commanding officer, and huffed. "I still don't see why it had to be Agent Coulson. We have much more important missions that we could have used him on."

The rivalry between Hill and Coulson had been going on for longer than either cared to admit, and it never failed to entertain the Director. When they had first become his right hand and one good eye respectively, Hill would go off in a huff when it looked like Fury was favouring Coulson, and the man would disappear for weeks on end if Hill got a better mission than him.

As the time wore on, Hill still went into a huff, but Coulson grew wiser. The arrival of Barton made him realize that he had so much else to offer, and when Romanoff joined, he took the role of 'momma bear' to a whole new level. He still fiddled around with Hill's buttons every now and then, but it was more of a game to him now. Something that Hill still didn't quite understand, and became quickly frustrated with.

Watching as a rather large cloud hit the window head on, Fury grinned darkly. "Trust me Hill, Coulson is on the most important mission he will ever face."

* * *

"No Barton! How many times do I have to tell you not to go in there?"

Stopping mid step, Clint whirled back around to face the man hunched over the table, and pouted. "But it smells so good," he whined, glancing at the kitchen forlornly. "And I haven't eaten since the burger joint when we landed."

Flicking a page over, Phil did his best to ignore the grumbling blonde and focus on the paper work in front of him. Even though he was now unofficially labelled the Avenger's babysitter, he was still in charge of a lot of other teams, and expected to go over their files before it was passed on to the correct departments for filing.

Scrapping the metal chair across the polished floor, Clint smirked at the screeching sound, and sat down. After throwing their bags into their bedrooms, the team had split up to find their own thing to do, which left the archer in a state of boredom.

Crossing his arms, Clint leant forward, and sighed loudly. "Is that from the team in Somalia?"

Nodding, Phil flipped over to the next page, and continued reading. "They're keeping an eye out for a weapon's dealer that is rumoured to have set up shop there," he muttered. "Agent Geoff reports that they have found signs, but have yet to track down the group."

Perking up at the name, Clint narrowed his eyes. "You know that Geoff's a dick right?"

"Only as much as you've said he was."

"Hey! He was the one that nearly got Nat killed in Bratsk. If the dick had followed orders-"

Raising his head to face the archer, Coulson frowned deeply. He had, of course, known all about the assassin's close call with a terrorist drug lord in Russia that had lead to her being hospitalized, but he had never heard of another agent's involvement. "Geoff was in Bratsk?"

Nodding, Clint unfolded his arms and let his face relax. With the way the man was looking at him, the archer could tell that he knew nothing about it. "Apparently Nat had called in for me; needing a spotter, but Geoff got the message first. He was in Kazakhstan at the time, and decided that his team didn't need him, so he hopped over to Russia in hopes of getting into her pants whist he was going. Anyways, long story short, he got distracted by some pretty girls walking down the street, missed the group pulling a pin on a grenade, and looked up just in time to see the place explode."

That... sounded believable. Thinking deeply about how the whole event took place, and how he found out the next day, Phil looked back up at the pissed off archer. "So how is it that Geoff is still alive? I thought that you would have tracked him down by now."

Grinning, Clint leant back in his chair and shrugged. "Nat got to him before I did. Notice how his voice seems a bit higher these days?"

Chuckling, Coulson looked back down at his work. That would teach the dumbass to not keep an eye on his girl.

* * *

Swinging a punch, Steve almost growled when the red head ducked.

"You're getting a bit slow there Rogers."

"You're just moving too fast," swinging another punch, Steve did growl when it met nothing but air. "Seriously, are you part ninja or something?"

Grinning secretly up at the puffed out soldier, Natasha motioned for timeout, and plonked down on the side of the ring. They had been going at it for hours, and apart from the lucky hit every now and then, they were sorer from the continuous movement. Grabbing the two water bottles that sat just off to the side, Natasha passed one over to the Captain and attempted to drown herself with the other.

"That was amazing," Steve muttered, his face dripping with sweat. "I've never seen a dame fight like that."

Raising and eyebrow at being called a dame, Natasha took another gulp and shrugged. "What can I say? I'm not like most dames."

"No," Steve agreed, and odd light flickering in his eyes. "I guess you're not."

Sitting silently, the pair waited until they caught their breath before speaking again.

"Natasha, I was wondering-"

Waiting for the blonde to continue, Natasha mentally grinned. The Captain had grown on her something fierce; the whole team had, but after spending the last nearly two months together, she had really come to enjoy the home baked apple pie feeling that the man had. It was... nice.

Staring down at his feet, Steve hoped to god that the lady couldn't see the blush creeping its way up his neck. "I-I was wondering-"

Placing a hand on the man's broad shoulder, Natasha smiled softly. "It's ok Steve, you can tell me."

"IwantedtoknowhowtoaskoutPhil."

The words came pouring out, and Natasha had no idea what he said.

"Pardon?"

Sucking in a deep breath, Steve forced himself to slow down. "I wanted to know how to ask out Agent Coulson."

Waiting for the assassin to answer, the blonde took the silence the wrong way, and started speaking again out of nervousness. "It's just that, everyone seems ok with Tony and Harry, and I know that it was frowned upon back in the forties, but I looked it up on the computer Bruce lent me, and I saw that Homosexuality is more accepted here, and no-one's said anything bad about Tony and Harry, and-"

Placing a hand up to stop the babbling man, Natasha forced him to face her, and stared deeply into his eyes. "Do you have feelings for Coulson? Not just vague ones that will disappear, but full out feelings?"

Unable to talk due to the claws digging into his jaw, Steve merely nodded.

"And are you aware that if you fuck it up, Clint and I will skin you alive and leave your still kicking body to Harry?"

Nodding again, Steve rubbed his jaw gently when the red head let go. "So, will you help me?"

Taking a deep gulp from her bottle, Natasha nodded. "Here's what we're going to do-"

* * *

"General Ross, always a pleasure."

The arrival of General Ross had been set down to the second. Shaking the army officer's hand with both of his own, Hank Pym bowed him into the lab with a sense of pride and accomplishment.

"Yes, yes." Striding his way through the door, Ross disregarded the pretty red head standing beside the sleep deprived scientist, and instead used his time to survey the room. "I had hoped to have heard from you sooner."

Flushing slightly, Hank rubbed his hands together in a fidgeting motion. "Yes well, all great things do take time."

"Hmm."

Eyeing a dirty sock that had somehow made its home on top of a stuffed possum, General Ross had to agree.

"It's just a shame that Staine won't see our work completed," he mused, finally turning his beady grey eyes back on the insignificant pair. If Stark had just played ball, he never would have needed to turn to the wrench of a humanitarian and his little play doll. "But, seeing as that's all in the past, let's move on to the future."

Gaping at the officer, Hank took a second to understand what the man had just said, before jerking into action. "Wh-oh! Yes, yes, of course. Right this way sir."

Making his way through the mountains of research and experiments that threatened to topple over and crush them instantly, Hank mused for a moment on the death of Stark Industries former CEO, but quickly shifted past it. Obadiah Staine's death, whilst tragic, did nothing to hinder his research, and thus, had nothing to do with him. Crawling his way past one last stack that he really should throw out, the blonde waited for the other two to make their way into the vacant space before shuffling over to the sheet covered object.

"General Ross; Janet, it is with deep pride that I may introduce to you for the first time, the future of policing and rehabilitation of criminals everywhere," Seeing that the only one actually interested in his little speech was his fiery assistant, Hank coughed awkwardly and quickly ploughed on. "May I introduce you to Ultron."

Light gleamed off polished titanium as the dusty white cloth was removed. The body shaped just like a person standing tall and proud, even if the technology had yet to be switched on. Staring up into the still, and yet commanding humanoid AI before him, Ross grinned broadly.

"This," he rumbled, punctuating the words by pointing at the robot. "This is exactly what we envisioned! Staine did good getting you in on this project Pym. Does it have the required encoding installed? Don't just stand there, show me what it can do!"

Beaming at the man's praise, Hank fidgeted with sheet as the General asked to be shown the AI's controls. "I'm sorry sir, but if it's all the same to you, I'd rather wait until Mr Stark was in attendance until I give a demonstration. This is; after all, based off his design and programming, and I wouldn't feel right unless he was here to see his work come to life."

The General's enthusiastic mood drained away quicker than the scientist could blink. Gazing at the shiny new robot almost lovingly, Ross shook his head slowly. "Stark won't be seeing any demonstration Pym."

Flicking her attention from one man to the other, Janet frowned deeply. "What do you mean General?"

"I mean, that Stark will never see it, because he doesn't know about it." Not sure whether to pity the idiots or grin at their stupidity, Ross raised an eyebrow. "Do you honestly think that if that pompous dick had planned for this project to actually come to life, he would have let anyone else except himself do it? Staine took this out of his private file after he announced that he was no longer making weapons. If it wasn't for the arse cutting us loose, we never would have called in such a scientific joke as you."

Staring at the tough skinned man, Hank felt his heart quicken with each beat. Stark didn't know – oh god, Tony Stark didn't know that he was building this! He had taken a stolen project that belonged to one of the most powerful men in the world, and had put it together for the army. No, for General Thaddeus E. "Thunderbolt" Ross!

"Why didn't you just take it to one of your secret bases and have your drones make it?" he snarled, the cold wave of fear quickly melting under the intense fury and rage filling him. "Why did you involve me?"

Clicking a button on his radio device, Ross murmured something into the speaker, before returning his attention to the shaking blonde. "Because we needed someone with enough smarts to understand that scribble Stark calls science," he explained. "And since Banner was and still is a fugitive, and Hammer had no idea what to make of it; not that we didn't expect that, that left you. It's nothing to be ashamed about Pym, when we send this baby and all its clones off to war, I swear that you'll be the first one to be thanked."

Opening his mouth to snap back, Hank was barely able to get a growl out, when soldiers busted into the room from all entrances. Feeling two men move behind him, the scientist made to avoid them, but fell to the ground as they injected him with what he could only hope was a sedative.

"Don't worry your pretty little head Pym," Ross' voice rang from up above, the medication quickly taking over his system. "I figured you wouldn't like the truth, so I've come up with something to help you forget. Trust me; it's for the good of mankind."

Staring blankly at the wooden floor, Hank heard the muffle cry of Janet and the sound of something heavy being moved, before his mind finally closed down.

* * *

Swaying softly in time with the jazz music coming through the radio, Harry waved his hand and watched as chocolate cake batter poured into the greased tray. An assortment of cakes, muffins and slices cluttered the bench, and the wizard knew that even with the extra people living in the Tower, that they would never get through it all before it went off.

Deciding to send a majority of it down to the homeless shelter on Fifth, Harry placed the final cake in the oven, before turning around and coming face to face with a startled looking Bruce.

"Oh dear Merlin," Holding a hand to his chest, Harry closed his eyes for second to regain his bearings. Usually it was very difficult for someone to sneak up on him, but the moment he got into his groove baking, he would jump like a cat on a hot tinned roof.

Tightening his hold on the empty coffee mug in his hand, Bruce smiled apologetically. "Sorry Harry, I didn't mean to scare you."

Waving the apology away, Harry grinned back. "Don't worry about it, I lose all sense of time and space when I bake, so trust me, if it hadn't have been you, then it would have been someone else."

Nodding shyly at the thought, Bruce made his way over to the kettle and flicked it on. "Would you like a cup of tea? Or coffee?"

"Tea would be great."

Watching as the slightly taller man made his way blindly through the cupboards, Harry accepted the offered mug and sighed deeply when the aroma hit his nose. "Thanks."

Bowing his head once more, Bruce made to shuffle his way back out, when an arm on his shoulder stopped him.

Glancing at the doctor from under his lashes, Harry grinned bemusedly. "We still haven't really sat down and talked yet."

Thinking over his choices, Bruce stomped the urge to jump when the Hulk's voice echoed inside his head.

"_Talk to magic man. Maybe Tin man like Bruce too." _

Not wanting to look too deeply into the rage monster's meaning, Bruce grimaced in acceptance, and sat on the stool closest to the edge of the bench. Paying no heed to the man's want of any physical contact, Harry moved to stand right beside him, and begin frosting the cakes he had done earlier.

"So I see you and Tony are getting along."

Probably not the best way to start. Hiding a wince at the way it sounded, Harry filled the piping back with icing, and set to work.

"I mean," he continued, not taking his eyes off the desert. "Thank you, for taking care of him when I was down and out. That man is a handful when he's happy, I'd hate to think of what he was like when Rhodey, Pepper, and myself weren't there."

Taking a sip from his mug, Bruce grinned in amusement. "He refused to shower for nearly a week, and then set up a froot loop army along the dining room floor."

Shaking his head in exasperation, Harry shifted the now completed cake to the side, and began on the next one. "That would sound about right. Last time I was away for a week, he decided that the house was too empty, so he bought a dozen or so cats. He hasn't been allowed to watch the Big Bang Theory since."

Watching as the wizard moved with the grace of a pastry chef, Bruce chuckled. "I can only imagine what that would have been like. Has he been introduced to Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or Torchwood yet?"

Picking up his batter covered spoon, Harry whirled it around so it was a millimetre away from the doctor's nose, and spontaneously donked him with it. "No he hasn't. Pepper and Rhodey have made damn sure of that; and if you even thing of doing it, I'll make sure that you have sludge dripping from your shower for a week."

Holding his hands up in surrender, Bruce went to wipe away the vanilla batter, but missed a bit that clung to the side. "Hey, I don't exactly want to be dragged into building an improbability machine or a gauntlet that revives people, so you have no problems from me."

Holding the spoon there for another second, Harry beamed at the answer, and returned to his icing. "I really do mean it," he continued. "For Tony to willingly let someone besides the already labelled people into his lab is a big thing. I love him and all, but you have no idea how hard it can be to keep up with that jargon he breathes sometimes. You really are a breath of fresh air to him, you know?"

Trying to hide the blush forcing its way onto his cheeks, Bruce hissed at the Hulk to shut up when he heard a low rumble coming from his chest.

Glancing down at the dark brown covered chest, Harry laughed lightly. "That's right, we haven't talked about the Hulk yet, have we? How are you going with him? Have you two started talking yet?"

Placing the now empty cup on the bench, Bruce snapped his head up in shock. "How did you know that we could talk to each other? Even I didn't know that until recently."

Taking the now cooked cake out of the oven, Harry shrugged. "I had a similar, but not identical problem when I was younger. The mad man that killed my family tied his soul to mine, and for seventeen years, I could feel his every mood and hear most of his thoughts. If his emotions ran too high, I could even see what he saw. It was all very unpleasant; and at one point, cost me the last of my family."

Feeling the need to comfort the man but not sure if would be accepted, Bruce waited quietly for the wizard to continue.

"He was eventually dealt with, along with most of his supporters, but the memories of what he did will never fade." Placing the piping bag down, Harry turned to face the empathic doctor, and smiled sadly. "The difference between you and me, is that the Hulk is still you. My demon was another man that had his own wants and needs, yours is just an extension of yourself. The Hulk wants what's best for you, even if you don't see it that way."

Feeling his chest rumbling once more, Bruce rubbed at his watering eyes, and grinned shyly. "You're the second person to say that," he admitted, his muddy brown eyes drowning in the sea of emerald green. "I've always seen him as a burden, as the blame for me losing everything; but it was really me that pushed everyone away, wasn't it? Tony said on the Helicarrier that the Other Guy saved me, but I couldn't understand why."

Wrapping his arms around the shuddering brunette, Harry hummed softly. He knew exactly what the slightly older man was going through, and after losing so many people that he loved, he'd be damned if he let his newly formed; if still jagged, family suffer. For that's what they were; a family, and be damned the next person that thought that they could rip them apart.

"Well," he muttered, slowly rocking backwards and forwards. "That idiot of a man has been known to be right on occasion."

Chuckling, Bruce let the movement and embrace calm him; the purring in his chest growing louder. The feeling of someone being near him was one that the doctor had long forgot; no-one wanted to hug the Hulk, and even if they did, he wouldn't let them. Burying deeper into the embrace, Bruce ignored the noise around him, instead focusing on the heartbeat coming from the chest cushioning his head.

"It will be ok," Harry whispered, running his hand through curly brown locks. "And if not, then I'll beat up the idiots that say otherwise."

Coughing back a laugh, Bruce pulled back; wiping away the sudden sleepiness in his eyes. "You and Tony are truly unique, you know that."

Taking a mock bow, Harry picked up the piping bag and resumed his frosting; the room around them filling with a sense of warmth and understanding. "We aim to please."

Shoving lightly at the Brit, Bruce let the affection of the touch fill his chest happily. "And you call Tony an idiot."

"That's because he is."

Sticking his tongue out, Harry went back to his cooking; the feeling of companionship growing and encompassing the pair. It was the beginning of a beautiful relationship...

...and if the pair stood a little closer as the doctor offered to help, nothing was said.

* * *

The lab was just the way he left it.

A mess.

Wadding his way through the stacks of spare pieces and cluttered desks, Tony made a mental note to get Pepper to hire a cleaner.

The arrival to the Tower had been for lack of a better word, mind-numbingly dull, and now that he was back in his right state of mind, he was ready to fix a mistake that was neglected for way too long. Sweeping the scattered pieces of paper off the keyboard, Tony booted up the main system and waited for the screen to come to life.

"Ok buddy," he muttered, fingers flying across the keys. "Time to get back into it."

Watching as the correct coding appeared on the monitor, Tony typed in the activation codes and hit enter.

"_Systems at one hundred percent, Stark Tower is online."_

Grinning, Tony pushed his wheeled chair across the room, stopping when he hit a glass table roughly the size of a pool table. Flicking the switch on the side, the engineer eyed the table as data and statistics appeared out of nowhere, filling the table with glowing designs and numbers.

"Good to see no-one screwed around with the wiring Jarvis. How are the other buildings surviving?"

"_I agree Sir. All other Stark buildings are in functioning order, would you like me to reboot Dummy, and You sir?"_

Nodding, Tony swiped all of the, what he deemed useless, information off the screen and opened any files related to his business trip to Afghanistan. The last lead he had found to what happened, had been in these folders, and if he kept digging, he knew that there would be more.

"Jarvis," he muttered, not taking his eyes away from the screen. "Bring up the folder labelled 'divorce plan A' and bring up the files on the wall."

Twirling his chair around, chocolate brown eyes waited quietly as the glass panel he had installed in the middle of the room, lit with all the files and pictures he had branded as important. Videos from his time as a hostage played in the corner, as the faces of his captures, Staine and Ross stared down at him from above.

"Ok," he huffed, his eyebrows puckering in thought. "We've figured out that Obadiah promised Ross something; most likely a weapon, but he couldn't deliver."

"_That is correct Sir."_

"More than likely something that I created," he continued, his finger twitching in thought. "but wouldn't make. Well that narrows it down."

Slumping heavily into the chair, Tony groaned at the problem. The answer was there; he could see it, it was just blurry.

"Jarvis, check the system Obadiah used to be on, and bring up any anything that he brought up related to weaponry; start with the day he died and run back."

Sifting through the files as they flooded his screen, Tony's attitude only worsened with each useless piece of information. Getting ready to take a break and grab a drink, the genius halted when a folder was brought up that he hadn't thought of in years. It had been a random idea that he had had during a three day soft drink binge and Star Wars obsession; something that was never meant to see the light of day.

Clicking through the notes and diagrams slowly; the genius felt his heart slow with each note, finally stopping as he opened a recorded video message hidden within it.

"_Hey Ross, just rang to let you know that the dumbass has decided to scrap the project. He says that it is 'not worth his time', so if you want the bloody thing built, then you're going to have to find someone else. The rest of the plan is to still go ahead; Stark will be in Afghanistan next week so make sure that your boys are in position. I'll take care of the other one. Remember Ross, no loose ends."_

The end of the call was like a trigger to the engineer's brain.

Everything suddenly clicked into place.

Staring at the screen in horror, Tony took a moment to fully digest the information he had stumbled upon, before jumping from his chair and running for the door.

"Jarvis, call the others. We have a problem."


	10. Chapter 10

_The end of the call was like a trigger to the engineer's brain._

_Everything suddenly clicked into place._

_Staring at the screen in horror, Tony took a moment to fully digest the information he had stumbled upon, before jumping from his chair and running for the door._

_"Jarvis, call the others. We have a problem."_

* * *

God damn stupid elevators!

Tapping irritably at the button labelled '71', Tony ignored Jarvis as he stated that continuously hitting the button would not make the hunk of metal move faster.

"Jarvis, remind me later to put some arc powered accelerators on the private lift."

"Yes sir."

Glancing up at the screen counting off the floors as they went past, chocolate brown eyes closed in frustration. How could he have been so stupid! Granted, he had thought that Obadiah was his friend and that the government wasn't that much of a dick, but still!

Reaching up to tug harshly at his perfectly styled hair, Tony blinked widely as the elevator made a customary dinging sound as it arrived to the top floor. Hardly giving the doors a chance to open, the engineer raced down the hallway and into the sitting room.

Looking up from where he was sitting at the kitchen table, Agent Coulson puckered his brow. "What's wrong Mr Stark? Jarvis just announced that you needed to see us urgently."

Breezing his way past the slightly older man, Tony ignored the question; instead, sweeping everything unceremoniously off the table and onto the floor. Including Coulson's completed reports and half full mug of coffee.

Staring at the caffeine splattered paperwork he had just finished, Phil snapped his head back up and eyed him with his 'I'm a Special Agent for SHIELD, don't fuck with me' look. "Why did you just vandalize my reports?"

"Oh-um I need the table."

Shifting chairs out of the way, Tony skimmed his hands along the underside of the glass slab, until he came across a switch and flicked it on. One of the many pains of moving or redecorating was that he always had a few items that Jarvis couldn't hack into until he had manually turned them back on.

"Jarvis," he yelled out, ignorant to the look Coulson was sending an equally baffled Harry behind his back. "Bring up folder divorce plan A, and the last folder I was skimming through in the lab."

Not even a second later, the glass slab came to life with documents, videos and designs. Making sure that everything was there; Tony turned around to face the team, but frowned when he noticed that they were two short.

"Where's Pussy Galore and ol' Stars'n'Stripes?"

"Right here."

Making their way down the hall and into the living room, a sweaty Natasha and Steve glared at the billionaire for the nick-names.

"Call me that again Stark, and your new title to tack to that ridiculously long list, will be 'unic'."

Too frazzled to take in the assassin's warning completely, Tony just nodded and turned back to the table. He still couldn't believe that he hadn't known about this; how could he have not known about this? He's a certified genius! How the hell did they keep this away from him?

"Tony?"

Feeling a soft, warm and extremely familiar hand land on his shoulder, Tony slumped in defeat.

"I figured it out."

The body beside him tensed in an instant. Out of everyone he had ever met, Harry was the only one that could tell exactly what he was saying without him full on spelling it out. Pepper could usually tell as well, but Harry was the one that understood every time.

"Figured what out?"

Breaking the silent conversation he was having with his husband, Tony turned around to face the confused team standing awkwardly behind him. "I figured out why the government wanted me and Harry apart."

Motioning for them all to sit down, Tony remained standing; pacing back and forwards. "It's no wonder I didn't find it sooner," he babbled, grabbing a plate of white choc macadamia cookies on his way past the kitchen bench. "I did put that gag order on Jarvis though, and I haven't exactly been active in the companies' system since the flash light was inserted, so really it's not my fault. It was their fault-"

Getting a bit dizzy from watching the genius round the room, Steve waited until the man made his way around the table for the umpteenth time, before reaching up, grabbing the genius by the shirt and shoving him into the seat next to him.

"Omph!"

Glaring at the smug looking blonde, Tony shuffled huffily in the ridiculously uncomfortable seat, and shoved another cookie into his mouth. "When Harry told me about the phone call he received, I brought up the footage saved by Jarvis, and took a quick squiz."

Raising an eyebrow, Natasha glanced at the rest of the group in a way that clearly said 'be quiet or suffer painfully'. The last thing Stark needed to know was that they had been eavesdropping on them. "What phone call?"

Spluttering, Tony eyed the group as they all looked back with polite confusion, and threw his hands up in exasperation. He was positive that he had already gone through all this with them; and if not, than Natasha, Clint and Coulson's natural curiosity and mad spy skills would have figured it out by now.

"You can't work with these people!" Stuffing another cookie between his lips, Tony moaned in appreciation; Harry's baking had always been to die for. Waving a crumb covered finger at the wizard, Tony coughed out. "You tell them love."

Rolling his eyes at the brunette, Harry forced down the blush that threatened to heat his cheeks as Tony let loose yet another orgasmic moan.

"Two months after Tony was captured, I received a phone call from one of the search teams," he mumbled, the information laid out on the table remained ignored by all. "The soldier told me that they had found the place Tony had been kept, and what was left of him. I refused to believe that he was dead until I saw the truth for myself. We've figured that I must have arrived at the camp an hour or two after Tony had escaped. There was still smoke and fire everywhere, and because of the amount of blood he had lost during his stay, my detection spells kept saying that he was in the mess of dead bodies and destroyed weapons."

"The soldier's name isn't important," Tony continued, the empty plate motivating him to start talking once more. "But who he was working for is."

Swiping his finger, the engineer watched as a photo featuring a sour looking soldier with grey hair and moustache to match, expanded to take up half of the screen.

"General Ross," Bruce whispered. His face crumpled with the memories of long past.

Nodding, Tony went to continue, but halted when the sound of thunder rolled its way through the tower. Glancing up at the roof, the team waited as another rumble echoed through the room with a shot of lightening following not long after.

Grinning, Clint turned back to the others, and put on his best Jack Nicolson impression. "Here's Johnny!"

* * *

The journey to Midguard for the God of Thunder was much easier than the time before. With the help of the Tesseract, the All-Father had not needed to conjure up as much dark energy to return him to this realm. Thinking back on his Father's proud face as he sent his eldest son back to the world he cared for so much, Thor waited for the end of the bridge to appear, before beginning the twirl of his hammer.

The trip to New Mexico had taught the blonde to always slow down before exiting the Bifrost, for fear of crashing head first into the ground and hitting a minivan.

Watching the dot before him grow larger and larger, Thor smiled ecstatically as the blurs of colour sharpened to the point that he could make out clouds and buildings. The last leg of the Bifrost disappeared in a whirl of colour and light, leaving the Asguardian to plummet quickly to the ground.

Tightening his hold on Mjolnir, Thor swung the mighty weapon above his head. The decent quickly slowed, and within mere seconds, he was stationary in the air. Keeping the momentum on his swing, Thor glanced around the area; his face threatening to split in two when he caught sight of the magnificent building sparkling in the afternoon sun.

His friend Stark was truly a visionary if he could design such a wondrous monument.

Calling forth the storm clouds the Bifrost had summoned, the blonde summoned a series of lightning bolts in happiness. Whirling around the mighty weapon, Thor hurled himself through the air and towards the mighty structure. Rain started to pour heavily against his face, as the Asguardian thumped on to the Iron Man landing pad.

"Point Break!"

Lifting his drenched head, Thor stood quickly from the crouching position he had landed in, as grinned broadly. His fellow warriors stood crowded around the doorway, none daring to go further for fear of getting wet. Striding his way towards them, Thor ignored the fact that he was soaked down to the bone, and grabbed Clint; whom happened to be the closest, and dragged him into a rib cracking hug.

"My friends," he boomed, letting go of the squeaking archer so that he could wrap his arms around the next person. "It is good to be among you once more."

Grunting in pain as a large hand belted down on his back, Bruce winced in agreement. "It's good to see you too Thor."

Ducking out of the way, just as an arm aimed for his shoulder, Coulson nodded a greeting to the Norse God. "It is nice to see you once more, Mr Odinson. I trust that the case of Mr Laufyson has been taken care of?"

Shaking off the excess water in his mattered hair, Thor felt his shoulders droop at the mention of his brother. "'Ey," he answered. "The All-Father was not as sparing as I had hoped. Loki has been sent to the realm of the Niflheim; to be bound to the Gjoll and watched by his daughter Hel until such time as the Ragnarok."

Not understanding a word the God had just spewed out, Tony nodded his head vacantly. "Yeah," he said slowly, his mind still trying to figure out what Ragnarok meant. "I think I just hit my daily dose of things to not look up."

Clapping his hands, the billionaire motioned for them all to once more sit down, as he grabbed another plate of cookies and passed it over to the drenched blonde. "Here you go Sparky. Love could you do something about the leaky faucet before I have to order a new carpet."

Not even bothering to reply, Harry waved his hand at the Asguardian, and muttered a quick spell. Blinking at the sudden chill breezing over him, Thor glanced down at his now dry chest and grinned warmly. "Thank you friend Harry, this is a most wonderful trick."

Shaking his head in amusement, Harry smiled softly as Tony leant over and placed a scratchy kiss on the corner of his lip.

"Not that I'm all for watching the happy couple go at it," Natasha snarked, clearly not in the mood to be sitting at the table for much longer. "But you had something to show us?"

Pulling away from the soft skin he had found just below his husband's ear, Tony glanced over at the red head and frowned. He was so going to get her back.

"Right." Pushing the photo away with a finger, the engineer sifted through the folder for a second, before enlarging another. This man looked to be in his fifties, the lack of hair not helping. "So Ross was the one to order the phone call to Harry-"

"What phone call?"

"-but he wasn't the only one. Jarvis, play the message found in Obadiah's system."

"Yes sir."

"_Hey Ross, just rang to let you know that the dumbass has decided to scrap the project. He says that it is 'not worth his time', so if you want the bloody thing built, then you're going to have to find someone else. The rest of the plan is to still go ahead; Stark will be in Afghanistan next week so make sure that your boys are in position. I'll take care of the other one. Remember Ross, no loose ends."_

The group sat quietly as the message played out, each listening to every word said in case it was important. Waiting for the audio to finish, Steve frowned. "So you're saying that this man, Obadiah, was also in on the plan?"

Nodding, Tony turned to the brunette beside him and winced. He hoped that the wizard didn't go off at him, but knowing his luck. "Do you remember that weekend we spent watching Star Wars and drinking all that soft drink?"

Raising an eyebrow, Harry grinned. "How could I forget? You set the house on fire after attempting to make a light saber."

Ignoring the chuckling sound coming from the birdbrain at the other end of the table, Tony continued.

"Do you remember what else I came up with?"

Any amusement that the wizard may have felt, was quickly washed away. Seeing the signs of an impending blow out, Tony raised his hands in self defence. "I know you told me to destroy it," he shouted, clenching his eyes shut as his body slid further down the chair. "But they were really good designs, and I buried them so deep that no-one should have been able to find them, let alone figure them out! And you said the same thing about the C-78, and that high powered jet, and the Robot ferret- ok, I should have listened to you on that one- but it was still really cool, and- why aren't you yelling at me?"

Waiting quietly for the genius to finish rambling, Harry stared down at his crossed arms and thought over what had happened. The addition to Tony's dumb ass idea really did answer a lot of questions he had previously had, but that didn't mean that Harry wasn't pissed. He had begged his husband to delete the design and forget about it, and Tony had sworn that he had.

"Um," not sure if he wanted to get between the pair, but needing answers, Steve coughed lightly. "What designs are you talking about."

Ripping his gaze away from the brooding wizard, Tony turned his attention back to the table, and sifted through the folder once more. Finding the file he was after, chocolate brown eyes watched as the blue and white designs filled the space.

"This," he waved at the screen, half in pride, the other in shame. "Was something that I came up with in a caffine, sugar coated hype, about a year before I stopped all weapons manufacturing. It was meant to be the first line of AI's to take over human soldiers in combat conditions."

Holding his hand up, Clint eyed the billionaire in exasperation. "Are you telling me," he spoke, jabbing a finger at the design. "That you designed a walking, talking version of the Iron Man that could think all on its own?"

Jerking his head in agreement, Tony glanced over at his husband, but quickly turned back when he could feel the temperature drop.

"Mr Stark," Couslon hissed, staring down at the engineer like he had just caught the man planning to blow the city up. "Of all the irresponsible, reckless, idiotic things you have done, this really takes the cake-"

"I know!" Unable to sit down any longer, Tony jumped from the chair. His hand automatically reaching for a tuff of hair. "It was never meant to go any further than this. Harry was the only one that knew about it, and he begged me to delete it, but the programming I had started writing was just too prefect to toss away; so I buried it."

Folding his arms, Steve puckered his eyebrows. "And now you're saying that someone found them and decided to build this robot?"

Nodding, Tony huffed loudly. "Obadiah was a friend of my Dad's and a better Father to me than my own ever was. I didn't find out that he had the entire chair board dealing underneath the table until I had built the first suit."

Snapping to attention at that piece of information, Harry stood from his own seat and made his way over to the torn man. "I didn't know that," he confessed, wrapping his arms around his husband's firm shoulders. "I heard that he had died, but I didn't know that he was doing such a thing."

Taking in the warmth and love from the hug, Tony looked at the rest of the team and pushed on. "My Will has a lot of fine print in it, but one factor that Obadiah always knew about, is that if I die, Harry receives everything. I was already doubting the continuation of weapons before Afghanistan, Obadiah knew that. He kept coming to me with old designs; I didn't even really look at, trying to get me to continue on. I think the only thing that stopped him from taking it to someone else half of the time, was the fact that I write most of my notes in code."

Bruce hummed in agreement. "When you asked me to look over that paper on the Arc reactor, it took me some time to figure it out."

Pushing the brunette back into his chair, Harry nodded too. "That's nothing compared to what it used to be like," he mused, ignoring the glowing numbers. "He showed me this paper on simple string theory when we were first dating, and I couldn't make out what language it was, let alone the actual content."

Snorting, Clint waved for them to go on.

"So from what I've gathered," Tony mumbled, his eyes not leaving the table. "Obi took the design to Ross, promising him the AI if he would in turn, help get rid of me and Harry."

"I understand the need to remove you," Thor frowned, his plate empty. "But why Harry?"

"Because I would have received the company," Harry explained patiently to the God. "And Obadiah would have known that the first thing I would have done is shut down the weapon's department like Tony was planning. With both of us out of the way, he had full control of the company and what they did."

"So from what we heard in the message," Natasha persisted, the pieces in her mind falling into place. "Obadiah passed on the design so Ross could still make it. Who would he been able to convince to do that?"

Swiping the screen once more, Tony pushed all the files aside and brought up a map of the world; small blue dots appearing in random places. "I've been thinking about that," he mused, his hair standing at all ends. "There's only a few people that would have been able to understand the design, and even less that would have been able to complete it. Doc, wanna give me a hand?"

Pulling his glasses out of his pocket, Bruce peered down at the map and hummed. "Well General Ross defiantly wouldn't have looked outside of America for help, he's patriotic that way; so we don't have to look any further than that."

The map zoomed in automatically, making Steve and Thor widen their eyes in surprise.

"Both you and Reed Richards can be taken off the list," Tony muttered, chocolate brown eyes watching as two lights went out. "And I think that we can take Xavier off the list too; he's too much of a softy to build my weapons."

Nodding in agreement, Bruce frowned when one particular light stood out in the north-west region. "Who's that?" he queried, pointing at the light. "I don't remember anyone with these qualifications in New York."

Frowning, Tony glanced over at the light. "I don't know; it better not be Hammer though, I thought that I gave Jarvis more brains than that."

Clicking on the dot, the team watched as a detailed description and previous academic list came up, along with a picture of a blonde haired, blue eyed man.

Raising an eyebrow, Bruce flicked his gaze up to the engineer. "I thought Pym was in Africa doing his whole subatomic particles experiment?"

"So did I." Whirling around to face the SHIELD agents, Tony scowled. "Did you lot know about this?"

Shaking his head, Coulson glanced down at the file, his phone already in his hand. "As far as we were aware, Dr Pym and his assistant were in Africa. Excuse me, I have to make a call."

The plain suited man stalked his way out of the room, leaving behind a very worried pair of scientists. Glancing back at each other, the pair silently mused over the recent discovery.

"Well," Tony hummed, breaking the staring contest so that he could eye the rest of the team. "I think we've got a lead on who's making Ross' army."


	11. Chapter 11

_Clicking on the dot, the team watched as a detailed description and previous academic list came up, along with a picture of a blonde haired, blue eyed man._

_Raising an eyebrow, Bruce flicked his gaze up to the engineer. "I thought Pym was in Africa doing his whole subatomic particles experiment?"_

_"So did I." Whirling around to face the SHIELD agents, Tony scowled. "Did you lot know about this?"_

_Shaking his head, Coulson glanced down at the file, his phone already in his hand. "As far as we were aware, Dr Pym and his assistant were in Africa. Excuse me, I have to make a call."_

_The plain suited man stalked his way out of the room, leaving behind a very worried pair of scientists. Glancing back at each other, the pair silently mused over the recent discovery._

_"Well," Tony hummed, breaking the staring contest so that he could eye the rest of the team. "I think we've got a lead on who's making Ross' army."_

* * *

Putting the standard issued mobile device to his ear, Phil Coulson sighed deeply. The recent discovery of Stark's designs had been disconcerting to say the least; but the fact that General Ross, a man with absolutely no moral grounds held said plans, was something to be very alarmed about.

Waiting out the ring tone, the blue eyed man kept half an ear on the group still muttering in the background.

_"Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, how can I help you?"_

Focusing back on the call, Coulson straightened his shoulders. "This is Agent Coulson, I need to talk to Director Fury immediately."

_"May I have your registration number and level password Agent?"_

"Yes, it's 035648B and the password is S220644."

_"Ok, just one moment."_

Light classical music filtered through the ear piece making Phil snort. The fact that a secret government organization used elevator music had always amused the Agent.

_"Fury here."_

Straightening up once more, Phil wiped the small smile off his face, and dove straight in. "Sir, this is Agent Coulson, I've just discovered a possible threat that needs immediate attention."

_"What is it Coulson?"_

The no nonsense tone in his superior's voice was one that the blue eyed Agent had come to like over the years. Most saw it as the Director being a hard arse, but he knew that it was the man's way of showing just how serious he took his job and the well being of everyone he controlled. Quickly updating the man on the recent drama, Coulson finished in his usual monotone calmness, and waited for the Director to give orders.

Sighing through the phone, Fury let the stress and aggravation show in his voice._ "And Stark is sure Ross has this information?"_

"Yes sir."

Another sigh came through the phone. _"Ok, I'll send a team to New York to check up on Pym, and get the Tech onto Ross' files. I want you to get Stark and Banner to see what else they can dig up. The team is to be full alert just in case, am I clear?"_

"Yes sir." Knowing that the man was just about to hang up, Coulson quickly plowed on. "There are two other matters to update you on Sir. One is that Mr Odinson has returned."

_"And the other?"_

Glancing over his shoulder, Phil winced as he caught Harry clip Tony up the back of the head; the rest of the team laughing. "Mr Potter will be heading out on a solo mission tomorrow-"

* * *

After the brief call with Fury, Coulson had returned to the dining room and relayed the news to the rest of the team. Agreeing that there wasn't much that they could do until the Director called back, the group decided to split up and go to bed.

Watching as the dark haired wizard shifted from the dresser to the bed and back again, Tony groaned in frustration. "Why do you have to go?" he whined, glaring at the duffle bag as if his husband's departure was its fault. "I'm sure that someone else could do it."

Neatly tucking a pile of sweatshirts into the half full bag, Harry rolled his eyes. "I promised them that they could call me for help, and they wouldn't have called if it wasn't something that they couldn't handle. It will only be for a few days."

Pulling the just packed shirt out of the pile; unfolding the rest of the clothes as he did so, Tony grumbled under his breath. "But you've said so yourself that there's a whole team of wizards that do this for a living. They can't all be that incompetent?"

Snatching the shirt back off the engineer, Harry let out a deep sigh. He knew Tony would be against him leaving, but this was starting to become ridiculous. "Just go to your room and go to sleep Tony. I'll say goodbye before I leave."

Standing up from his spot on the bed, Tony shuffled around the bed, pulling the tired brunette into a loving embrace. "I don't want you to go," he muttered, curly dark locks muffling most of the words. "You might decide to stay there, and then what?"

Glancing up from under his eye lashes, Harry smiled softly. "I will come back to you. I promise."

Raising his feet so he could reach the fashionably shaven face, Harry placed a soft, tender kiss on the corner of the engineer's mouth. Grunting in agreement, Tony captured the retreating lips in another kiss.

"Why are we in separate rooms again?"

The words came out muffled, but Harry still caught them. Pulling back to regain his breath and take in the startlingly intense gaze being sent his way, the wizard panted. "Because we're taking it slow."

Lowering his work roughened hands; Tony cupped the brunette's firm buttocks, and growled predatorily. "Fuck going slow."

The wizard had always been light and lithe, something that Tony had taken great delight in time and time again. Pulling his husband up so that he could wrap his legs around the billionaire's waist, Tony captured the slightly swollen lips in his own as he made his way to the bed. When they had returned to the Tower, he had hated the idea of Harry not being in his bed, but it was the man had wanted, so as usual, Tony had relented and set the brunette up in the closest spare room to his own.

Deciding to rectify the sleeping arrangement the moment the wizard returned, the engineer focused back on the panting body wrapped around him and the bed that they were just about to fall on.

"Omph!"

Glancing up at his grinning husband, Harry ran his hands through the almost wild looking hair, and smiled softly. He had known when he had suggested that they take it slow, that that was going to be damn near impossible. They were like positive and negative charged electrons; the universe could rip them apart, but they would always come right back to each other with the same amount of force.

"Fuck Har, I love you so much."

Rubbing his hands up and down the shirt clad chest, Harry beamed up at his husband. "I love you too, Tony."

Taking one last glance at the glowing emerald orbs, Tony lowered his head so that he could place soft kisses up and down the creamy curve of flesh. Tony may have been with many people before Harry, but he was the only one that he ever made love to. Even when they were frantic and full of scorching hot passion, the genius always referred to it as love making; Harry never said anything to contradict it, and with the small smile that radiated every time the magic wielder heard it, Tony was sure that he didn't mind.

Slowly taking off articles of clothing without any real rush, the pair continued to map their way across the vast expanse of skin that was being revealed. Tonight wasn't about heat and desire, it was about caressing and memorizing.

Chuckling softly as rough knuckles slid their way down the inside of his thigh, Harry reached up for another kiss; both their lips swollen and covered in moisture. Feeling the hand make its way closer to his entrance, Harry widened his hips on instinct.

"Tony," he sighed, eyes fluttering close at the sensations.

Planting his lips firmly on his husband's cheek, Tony whispered sweet nothings into his lover's ear, as one by one, his fingers delved into the one place that no-one but him had ever been, or will ever be.

"It's ok," he whispered, rocking them gently backwards and forwards, his hips sliding across the smooth pale skin beneath him. "It's ok, I've got you."

Panting loudly, Harry tightened his hold on the taller man as the pair began to rock. It had always amazed the wizard that he was so tight after so long, but Tony just found it exciting, and never felt the need to bring it up. After what felt like forever, the wonderful sensation of his lover's fingers was removed, causing the wizard to whimper in disappointment.

Laughing breathlessly, Tony shifted himself so that he was in a more comfortable position. "Don't worry," he grinned, the head of his cock bobbing excitedly at the other's entrance. "It will be much better in a second."

Too far gone to really understand what Tony had said, Harry merely nodded in agreement.

The blunt object lightly pressing at his entrance made the wizard's over sensitive body tremble in anticipation. Digging his blunt finger nails into the broad shoulders hanging above him, Harry whimpered as the throbbing flesh finally worked its way inside.

Leaning down, Tony smeared his lips across the exposed collarbone; his breath gasping as his manhood became engulfed in the almost unbearable heat of his husband. Stopping all movement as he finally became fully sheathed, Chocolate brown eyes stared down at strikingly beautiful emerald, and grinned.

"I love you so much Harry," he panted, the tightness around his member slowly killing off all thought.

Lifting his sex mused head from the feather down comforter it laid on, Harry pulled his husband into a searing kiss. "I love you more than I could ever say Tony."

Latching onto the swollen lips once more, Tony leisurely began to thrust his hips, his member barely making it out of its warm cocoon before sliding straight back in. There was no need to rush. The man in his arms would be gone come morning, no matter how much Tony wished otherwise; and be damned if he wasn't going to making the night last.

Reaching out for the hand that had fallen to his chest, the engineer laced his burn covered fingers with the equally scarred ones, and kissed each digit softly.

Yes. They could fight off the impending morn, as long as he had his emerald eyed lover by his side.

* * *

"Are you sure that you packed everything? What if you need to contact us?"

Rolling his eyes at the over worked red head, Harry smiled warmly as he pulled Pepper into a sibling like embrace.

"Its fine Peps," he assured her, running his hand through her hair in comfort. "It's not like I can't buy anything that I may have forgotten, and I'll have a cell on me at all times."

Not sure if she believed him, but not wanting to break out crying again, Pepper calmed herself down and nodded firmly. The news of her best friend leaving again so soon was not sitting well in her stomach, and by the looks on the rest of the assembled group, it wasn't in theirs either.

Letting go of the deadly woman, Harry flashed her one more look of reassurance, before turning around to face the rest of the room. His portkey was set to leave in another fifteen minutes, and he hoped to say goodbye to everyone before that happened. Stalking over to the three SHIELD agents, the emerald eyed wizard grinned.

"Do try not to get killed, Mr Potter," Coulson quipped, his shades covering the red lining his eyes but not the blotchiness of his cheeks. The pair went back further than even Fury knew, and the fact that the wizard was going back to the UK to deal with Death Eaters was not something the Special Agent wished to dwell on.

Knowing that apart from Tony and Pepper, this would be hardest on his old mentor and friend, Harry nodded in understanding. "Only if you do the same, Phil. Stay away from green covered aliens with pointy things while I'm away, ok?"

Unable to deal with the high emotions anymore, Clint threw himself from the line, and collapsed onto the startled brunette. "You have to come back in one piece, do you hear me? If I have to drag your arse out of some mess because you fucked up, then I promise that I'll make your life an absolute misery, understood?"

Patting the archer's back, Harry chuckled deeply. Clint had always reminded him of the twins; bless their souls, and he had never once stopped watching the wizard's back, something that Harry was eternally grateful for. "I'll come back," he promised, patting the blonde on the back one more time before Natasha stepped forward and removed the sudden growth from him.

"Take care of yourself, Harry," the assassin muttered.

Nodding in response, Harry turned to the three standing off to the side, and grinned widely. "Take care of them for me, yeah?"

Straightening his shoulders, Steve stared down at the brunette and gave a sharp nod. "You be careful out there Harry, call if you run into any trouble."

Stomping forward, Thor patted the brunette on the shoulder; his experience with Hagrid being the only thing that stopped him from crashing into the floor. "Ey, fair sails and worthy battles my friend," the Thunder God announced, his voice though gentle, still carrying around the room. "I expect to see you on Midguard much more before I see you in Valhalla."

Smiling up at the blonde, Harry patted his shoulder in thanks. It was a nice sentiment, and with his whole allergy to death, one that he was sure that he could keep. Side stepping the towering wall of muscle, Harry made his way to the fidgeting scientist, and wrapped him in a loose hug.

"I'm sorry that we didn't get to continue that chat," he admitted, letting go so that he could stare into shocked brown eyes. "But once I get back, I'd be more than happy to continue. We could even bake some more cookies."

Gaping at the whole situation, Bruce took a minute to let the words seep in. Apart from Betty, no-one had hugged him since the experiment, and the sudden feeling of warm the wizard's body had given him, was like giving water to a man lost in the desert. Nodding shakingly, Bruce glanced at the wizard through his lashes, and smiled hesitantly. "I'd like that."

Beaming, Harry whirled around to pick up his bag and newspaper portkey. Five minutes left and counting. "Oh," turning back around, Harry glanced at each and every one of them. Tony had been in the labs since the moment he had woken up, and Harry knew his husband, he was two seconds off storming back in and begging him not to go. Not that Starks beg. "If you could all keep an eye on Tony for me, that would be great. I know that he's taken care of himself for the last t-"

_Ding._

"Oh, thank god you haven't left yet."

Twirling around, Harry smiled happily, opening his arms for one final embrace.

_Thwank._

_Click._

Blinking, Harry glanced down at the bronze bracelet now humming lightly on his wrist. "Tony?"

"It's a locating device." Releasing the wrist he had not two seconds before taken hostage, Tony quickly wrapped his arms around the shorter man's waist, and pulled him in for a passionate kiss. "I can't stop you from going, but like fuck I'm letting you go without knowing where to."

Not sure if he should be happy with the amount of devotion this showed, or pissed at the lack of privacy, Harry opened his mouth to ask if Tony had taken what large influxes of magic did to technology into effect, when the metallic voice of Jarvis interrupted him.

_"Sir, the portkey will activate in one minute and counting."_

Not bothering with anything else, Harry latched onto the Metallica shirt the engineer was wearing; their lips clashing in a fight for love and dominance.

_"Thirty seconds."_

Panting deeply, the brunette reefed himself out of his husband's grasp and made to stand in the middle of the room.

_"Ten seconds."_

Glancing back at the team, Harry grinned in a lopsided fashion.

"Look after each other while I'm gone, and don't let Tony near the oven!"

And with one blink, the Wizarding world's Saviour was gone.


	12. Chapter 12

It was a dreary day.

Or at least what he could see of it from his windows.

Glancing back down at the dark mahogany desk littered with formal letters and notes, Kingsley Shaklebolt; Minister of Magic and former member of the Auror department, sighed deeply. Even after the end of the war twelve years ago, the dark skinned man had yet to grow used to his position. The once elegant and spacious office now reflected the mind of its current occupant; much to the disgust of the portraits and his secretary. Newspaper clippings and maps found themselves tacked to the walls, whilst piles of books and; what most would deem useless information, found themselves a home along the skirting boards and corners.

Tapping his rather haggled looking quill on the form before him, Kingsley let out another sigh. He couldn't focus; especially not on this drivel that the morons downstairs thought was important. Placing the poor writing instrument down gently, the ageing Minister made to stand, when the sudden appearance of a man with wild, dark hair and bright emerald eyes had him reaching for his wand. The semi-retirement to desk work making his reflexes slow down almost to the point of embarrassing.

"Who are you, and what business do you have here?" Thankfully, his voice was still as strong and demanding as ever.

Raising an eyebrow at the wand pointed towards him, the young man dumped his bag on the ground where he stood, and smiled mischievously. "I knew getting older meant memory loss, but I didn't think that it would be kicking in this early Shaklebolt."

Knowing that voice; despite not hearing it for such a long time, Kingsley kept his wand trained on the man just in case, as he shuffled his way around the annoyingly large desk. "Harry?"

Kicking his smile up a couple of notches, Harry opened his arms in welcome. "The one and only."

The Minister stood staring at the man in shock. When he had sent the letter, he had sent it on a fool's hope. No-one had word from the brunette in almost ten years, and apart from the brief glimpse he caught of a blurred picture in a muggle magazine a few weeks ago, Shaklebolt hadn't even been sure the man was still alive. Hoping that this was the real deal and not another attempt on his life, dark onyx eyes narrowed in on the man and barked. "What was the last thing you said to me before you left?"

Lowering his arms, Harry toned down his smile and nodded in acceptance. Kingsley was just as much a warrior as he was, and he should expect nothing less than constant vigilance. "I told you to live your life. To get married, have kids, and just be happy because you deserved it."

Finally lowering his wand, Kingsley almost ran across the room and swept the shorter man into a crushing hug. "Oh, thank god you're alive. You stopped writing, and I wasn't sure-"

Unable to let go, Harry merely soaked up the other's presence. He and Kingsley were two of the few that had fought and survived the war; the final battle. Glancing up at the sole-surviving Order member; Minerva having died due to heart problems a year after he left and Mrs Weasley dying of grief six months after the battle that had taken her husband and children, emerald eyes glistened in the light.

"It's good to see you Kings'," he muttered, trying to take in everything of the man that he could.

Feeling his own eyes water, the Minister stared down at the Boy Who Lived, and smiled sadly. "It's good to see you too Harry."

* * *

The wizard hadn't even been gone an hour, and Tony was driving everyone up the wall.

"Tony, turn the music down or I swear to god-!"

Not even bothering to look up from his horizontal position on the floor, Tony kept staring up at the ceiling; Whitesnake belting it out through the speakers. Tapping his foot to the beat, the engineer waited for the chorus to start up so he could scream it out.

_"Tho' I keep searching for an answer,_  
_I never seem to find what I'm looking for.."_

"Seriously!" Holding her hands to her ears, Natasha walked over to the sulking billionaire, and kicked him in the leg. "This is the fifteenth time you've played this song, turn it off!"

_"Oh Lord, I pray_  
_You give me strength to carry on,"_

Rolling his eyes down to look at the assassin, Tony decided that she wasn't that much of a threat, and turned his attention back to the ceiling. Harry was gone; Pepper leaving soon after due to a business meeting, and the brunette couldn't help the sudden wave of loss that crashed over him. It felt like he was back from Afghanistan all over again, and the only thing that could help was 80's rock and rocky road ice-cream...

...he would have to send Happy to get some more ice cream.

_"'Cos I know what it means_  
_To walk along the lonely street of dreams"_

"HERE I GO AGAIN ON MY OWN!" Bellowing the lyrics to the point that his voice was drowning out even the stereo, Tony closed his eyes, not noticing the stiletto heeled red head making her way back into the room. "DOWN THE ONLY ROAD I'VE EVER KNOWN! LIKE A DRIFTER, I WAS BOR- what?"

Chocolate brown eyes snapped back open, the sudden loss of music halting any further singing, lifting his head so that he could take in the scowling faces of his teammates, Tony scrunched his face into a horrified pout. "Who turned off my music?"

"I did."

Clip-clapping her way across the room, Pepper sent a stern look at her boss, before continuing towards the kitchen. "And it will stay off until I say otherwise."

Placing the plastic shopping bags she had been carrying down on the bench, Pepper sent the group a look of apology, but was waved off by most of them; the rest not understanding what she was doing.

Getting out of the position he had pretty much collapsed into after his husband had left, Tony made his way over to the bench separating the kitchen from the dining room, and lent against it, his head using his crossed arms as a head rest. "You can't do that," he whined, though he would never admit it. "This is my tower, you can't boss m-"

Eyeing the brunette down, Pepper waited for the man to shut up, before handing over a spoon and extra large tub of rocky road. Taking the offered items with great delight, Tony quickly had the lid peeled off and his mouth busy taking in the delicious treat. Knowing that the genius would be quiet until the tub was finished, Pepper turned back to the confused group and smiled politely.

"When he came back from Afghanistan, he wasn't exactly in the best frame of mind," she explained, motioning for them all to sit down at the table as she went about making tea and coffee. "The only thing that would calm his nightmares was his favourite bands, and rocky road was Harry's favourite."

Glancing over at the zoned out Stark, Steve winced in sympathy. "There wasn't much in his folder about his time there, or anything he may have suffered."

"That's because no-body knows anything except Stark," Thanking Pepper for the coffee, Coulson continued. "When SHIELD showed up to the caves, everyone there was dead, and Stark refused to talk about it to anyone except I'm assuming Miss Potts and Mr Rhodes."

Shaking her head, Pepper frowned. "He told us little more than what was in his folder, so we're in the dark just as much as you are."

Not sure what to do, Bruce decided to steer the conversation back to shallow waters and away from a fellow member's past history. "So what are we going to do about the AI Ross has?"

Taking a sip of her coffee, Natasha shrugged. "We won't be able to do anything until we know more. Fury has us on speed dial, so the moment he knows, we know."

Nodding in agreement, Coulson pressed the mug to his lips, but stopped when he noticed that Stark was no longer eating the half empty ice cream, and was instead staring intently at all of them.

"Is something the matter Mr Stark?"

Shaking his head, Tony placed the ice cream tub on the bench and made to leave the room. Sighing, Pepper stood to follow, but was stopped when Bruce placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. "It's ok," he smiled shyly, still not quite used to the fiery woman. "He's probably heading down to the R and D, I'll keep an eye on him."

Giving the shy doctor a thankful grin, Pepper watched as he left the room, and bit her lip. She saw the way that the mild mannered man looked at Tony; she just hoped that he treaded carefully. Harry was very possessive of what little he had, and growing up with nothing, he didn't like sharing; especially Tony. Mind you, she had also seen that hug the pair had shared before the brunette left...

* * *

The quietness of the tower was soothing to the Captain's head.

After spending a good portion of the day listening to Tony's devil music, Steve was more than ready to just crawl into bed and sleep, but after the warning glance Natasha threw him, he knew that wasn't possible. Nodding at the red head, Steve waited until Bruce was safely in the elevator, before turning to the Special Agent beside him and smiling shyly.

"Um- Phil?"

Rolling his head around, Coulson took in the slight blush forming on the soldier's cheeks, and raised an eyebrow. "Yes Steve?"

"I was wondering if I could talk privately with you for a second."

The pregnant pause that followed his half chocked question, had Steve squirming in his seat, and wanting to look anywhere but at the blue eyed man before him. Cocking his head to the side at the rather unusual behaviour, Coulson nodded slowly.

"Sure," rising from his chair, he motioned for the blonde to do the same. "Let's talk in my room; if anyone needs us, we'll be in there."

Nodding in understanding, Natasha sent the pale Captain a small smile of reassurance, before turning to Clint and grabbing his hand. "C'mon, let's go for a bath. You can wash my back."

Not wanting to focus on what he had just heard, Steve hurried his steps till he was standing outside the Agent's room. Waiting for the shorter man to invite him in, Steve tried to take in everything, but could barely focus on anything over the feeling of his stomach tying itself into knots.

Closing the door with an almost audible click, Coulson turned to the fidgeting blonde and smiled in his usual calm way. "What did you wish to talk about?"

Clenching his hands into fists, Steve took a deep breath and closed his eyes. I t was now or never. "I- um, that is- why is this so difficult?"

Watching as the soldier threw his hands in the air and growled, Phil grabbed him by the upper arm, and pushed him down so that they were both sitting at the end of the bed. "Now," he huffed, trying desperately not to giggle like a girl at the look on Steve's face. "What's wrong?"

Gazing into the beautiful blue eyes that were so much lighter than his own, Steve blurted out "Do you wanna have me with dinner?"

Pinching his eyebrows together, Coulson cocked his head once more. "Pardon?"

Taking another deep breath, Steve mentally scolded himself for blundering it up, but forced himself to say it right this time. "Would you like to go out to dinner with me tonight?"

Not quite sure what the blonde was up to, but hoping that it was what he thought it was, Phil glanced up at the broad shouldered man, and quirked his lips. "As in a date?"

Not trusting his mouth, Steve merely nodded.

"And you would be taking me to the movies afterward."

Lifting his head, it was Steve's turn to look confused. "If you wish..."

Grinning widely, Phil patted the soldier on the thigh as he stood to leave the room. "I'll be ready at seven sharp, Mr Rogers. Don't keep me waiting."

* * *

Glaring down at the team he had been given by the new Head of Law Enforcement, Harry scoffed. These weren't Aurors, and they certainly wouldn't be enough to go up against the likes of veteran Death Eaters. Eyeing one particular idiot at the end that was picking his nose; the Saviour turned to an ashamed looking Shaklebolt, and a proud dumbass that was standing beside him.

"Is this really the best team you've got?"

The incredulousness of the situation made the Minister wince. He had tried to keep the Auror division as strong and capable as possible, but after a year as Minister, he just had to admit that he had other divisions to worry about as well, and someone else was going to have to look after Amelia's old post. Boris Newman was not the man he would have chosen.

"Of course they are," the slightly pudgy man exclaimed, his balding head already dripping little beads of sweat under the exhaustion of being called in. "These are Britain's best and brightest. Flodgson there ranked seconded highest in his year, and Bludge has the best aim I have ever seen."

Doubting that the man had ever been in a bar brawl, let alone a war, Harry couldn't really doubt that. Turning back to the assembled Aurors, Harry let his former soldier and commander surface; his eyes steeling over in a way that they hadn't since the Chitari attack.

"Alright you sack of useless dicks," he bellowed, startling everyone but Kingsley. The Minister merely rose an eyebrow and grinned evilly; Harry had been taught by Mad-Eye after all, and by the sound of the language, had apparently picked up a few other tricks from overseas. "Get into formation. I said get into formation!"

Blustering at the treatment of his men, Boris sputtered at the man the Minister had told him was taking over the special op's mission. "Now see here!"

Rounding his glare onto the pompous buffoon, emerald eyes flashed dangerously. "I don't remember seeing your face during the war Mister Newman, so if I were you, I'd keep my mouth shut before you suddenly find yourself shovelling shit for the rest of your life."

"How dare you!" Whipping around to face the Minister, Boris was not at all pleased with the twinkle of amusement he found in Shaklebolt's eyes. "I will not be treated this way, Minister! Especially by some no-name stranger that looks like they've barely graduated. I demand that you get rid of him at once, or I'll have him arrested."

Trying desperately to get his shoulders to stop shaking, Shaklebolt motioned at the still glaring brunette. "I forgot about that didn't I? Boris, this is Harry Potter. I called him in to clean up the mess you should have years ago."

Mentally grinning at the image of Boris quickly changing from violent red to comatose white, Harry turned back to the still slacking team, and snarled. "I said ATTENTION!"

Not moving half as fast as Harry would have wished, the brunette waited for them all to finally fall into place, before continuing. "My name is Harry James Potter, those of you that have heard of me, will have also heard about how much of a stickler I am when it comes to strategies and winning. I have just returned from America after fighting an army of Chitari, so this should be a cake-walk. When I give orders, you are expected to follow them, no matter how obscured they may be. You are not what I asked for, not even close, but you will have to do. Be ready at 0400 hours, we're going to catch ourselves some Death Eaters."

Whirling around to face the still pale Head and smirking Minister, Harry nodded his head sharply as he stalked towards the doorway. The sooner he got this over with, the sooner he could return to his new family and husband.

* * *

"So do you want to talk?"

Shaking his head, Tony grabbed the bottle of tequila he kept stashed in his drawer and ripped off the lid. He hated this feeling. Why was he even feeling like this? Harry was coming back, he had said so himself; and the tracking device he had put on his wrist made it damn near impossible for Tony not to find him...

...taking a large swig of the bottle, the engineer slumped to the floor; his back resting against the wall, and motioned for Bruce to sit beside him. Not sure what else to do, and wanting to help his friend out as much as he could, the doctor slowly slid down the wall till his butt hit the ground. Turning to face the genius, dark brown eyes widened as burning clear liquid forced its way down his throat. Pushing the bottle away from his mouth, Bruce sputtered up as much as he could.

"What the fuck?" he coughed, eyes watering at the chocking and taste. "Why did you do that for?"

Shrugging, Tony took another swig himself; the coughed up splatters on his shirt not fazing him in the least. "I wanted to get you to relax."

Rolling his eyes, Bruce grabbed for the bottle and took a small sip. After a lifetime of sobriety, Bruce knew that it wouldn't take much to get him drunk; and even with his slowly forming connection with the Hulk, he didn't think that passing out and turning into that guy would be the best idea.

Watching as the scientist's adam's apple bobbed up and down, tony unconsciously licked his lips. Reaching out for the bottle again, Tony took a larger shot, his vision slowly starting to blur. Jimmy, Jack and John he could drink till the cows came home; it was tequila he sought when he felt the need to get smashed.

"He left me."

The words were meant to be whispered, but by the way Bruce jumped, he highly doubted that they were. Taking another swig before passing it over, Tony continued; the alcohol loosening his tongue. "I came home, and he wasn't there, and now he's gone again."

Never have much experience with tequila himself, Bruce felt the side effects like a freight train. Wrapping his arm around the billionaire, the doctor rubbed his hand up and down in a soothing motion.

"Shhshhshsh," he hushed, pushing the bottled to the other's lips in order to shut him up. "He said he's coming back, and you know he will."

Pushing the bottle away, tony quickly changed his mind and took another swig, the remainder down to the last quarter. "But why?" he moaned, his arms flapping everywhere. "Why would he come back? He's perfect! Perfect! And all I've got offer is a washed up has been with a torch in his chest."

Eyeing the finger that was pointing at the arc reactor, Bruce took a second to let the words seep in. Snapping back up, Bruce stared at the engineer in horror. "Don't say that Tonee," he pleaded, his face smooshing into the other's collar bone as he drunkenly hugged him. "You're so brave and smart and pretty-"

Giggling, Tony glanced down at the wide eyed man looking back up at him. "You called me pretty."

Even with so much alcohol in his system, Bruce couldn't help the blush forming on his cheeks. "That's because you are," he whispered, dragging his body up so that he could get closer to the grinning man. "You are so beautiful Tonee, if I had you, I would stick you in my hulk sized pants and never let you go."

Laughing harder at the thought, Tony tipped over; the only thing stopping him from hitting the floor was the scientist. Opening his eyes wide at the feeling of warm skin moving against his lips, Tony closed them after a second, the sensation being too much to walk away from.

Pulling roughly at the fabric hiding away the doctor's body, Tony growled in frustration. He needed to feel skin, feel warmth. Finally giving into his drunken desires, the clothing let up; freeing the pair to feast upon the delights of mortal sin.

Panting heavily as he watched the grinning brunette lower himself so that he could face Tony's manhood, Tony briefly cast a curious thought at what was supposed to bugging him, but decided to ignore it when all new sensations hit his body.


	13. Chapter 13

_Pulling roughly at the fabric hiding away the doctor's body, Tony growled in frustration. He needed to feel skin, feel warmth. Finally giving into his drunken desires, the clothing let up; freeing the pair to feast upon the delights of mortal sin._

_Panting heavily as he watched the grinning brunette lower himself so that he could face Tony's manhood, Tony briefly cast a curious thought at what was supposed to bugging him, but decided to ignore it when all new sensations hit his body._

* * *

"So what did you think of the movie?"

The night was waning into early morn as the two casually dressed men made their way down the street; half drunk sodas nestled in their hands.

"It was different," Steve admitted, flicking an annoying lock of hair out of his eyes. "The theatres were never that loud before, and I don't think the dames should have been wearing such short bathing suits."

Chuckling at the soldier's words, Phil took a sip of his soda and contemplated; if Steve thought the swimwear in Jaws was revealing, then how would he react to the beaches these days. Chucking the now empty container in the bin, the agent glanced up at his date and smiled warmly. "So where to now Mr Rogers?"

Throwing his own drink into the shiny metal cylinder, Steve shrugged nervously. "I didn't quite plan this far," he admitted. "I didn't even think that you were going to say yes, to be honest."

Coulson didn't know what to think. When he had first met the Avenger, he had felt a major rush of fan-boy addiction; but as they worked and later moved in together, that feeling had disappeared, leaving behind a great deal of respect and attraction. When Steve had asked him out, he could have sworn that his heart had skipped an entire beat.

Catching the Captain shuffling his feet and looking away awkwardly, Phil realized that he had been quite for too long, and quickly set forth to rectify it. Grabbing the slightly larger hand with his own; blue eyes looked up at the questioning soldier, and smiled contentedly. "How's about we go get some of that ice cream, and then head back home?"

Shoulder's sagging in relief; Steve nodded in agreement and led his date down the still bustling street. Their hands tucked comfortably into each others.

* * *

The smooth surface of a chilly floor pressed against his face was the first thing Tony noticed as he returned to the land of the living. The dull throbbing at the back of his head and top of his spine was the second. Hoping to god that he was in one of the rooms in the Avenger's Tower and not a bathroom stall of Chucky Cheese, the engineer attempted to lift his head, but stopped when the throb transformed into a sharp pain.

"Ow."

Snapping his eyes open at the sound of someone else beside him, Tony closed them right back as the bright fluorescent lights blinded him. Moaning in pain, the genius wiggled around on the floor, praying to get some relief from this torture.

"Tony?"

Knowing that voice, despite how scratchy and sore it sounded, Tony lifted his hand to shield his eyes, before opening them so he could find the good doctor. "Bruce?" he whined, the taste of bile hitting the back of his throat. "Oh, shit. Where are we?"

Sitting up from his sheltered spot under a work bench to Tony's left, Bruce winced as his unexplainably naked bottom flared in pain. Glancing over at the only other person in the room, Bruce frowned when he caught sight of Tony in his birthday suit. "Forget that," he muttered, his pounding headache making it hard to focus on more than one thing at a time. "Why are you naked?"

It took a moment for the pair to fully comprehend the question. Thinking it over, any onlooker could have sworn that a light bulb lit up over their heads at the exact same time as their situation finally sunk in. Gaping at eachother in horror, Bruce ran a hand repeatedly through his hair.

"There was a fire?" he half said, half asked.

Shooting the shorter man a baffled look, Tony sat up straighter so that he was at least eye level with the doctor. "You're a multi-Phd holder, and that was the best you could come up with?"

Scowling, Bruce reached over for his pants that had somehow made their way onto a set of Bunsen burners, and reefed them on. "Well then why don't you come up with a better excuse," he snapped, the harsh pain in his head and lower back doing nothing to help his mood.

Using the wall as a crutch, Tony slowly made his way to the land of the vertical, and snarked. "Well sorry for upsetting your delicate features so early in the morning."

Doing up the last button, Bruce hobbled over to the other side over the room where his shirt was hiding, and huffed loudly. "Look," he muttered, not daring to glance over at the still naked man. "The last thing I remember was coming down here to see if you were ok. Seeing as usually waking up with no memory and no clothes means that the Hulk got out, I'd like to say that anything at the moment is better than that scenario."

Holding a hand up to lessen the lights glare on his eyes, Tony scanned the room for his clothes, and moaned when he caught sight of the one thing he did not want to be there. Shuffling across the floor on wobbly feet, the engineer cried out in pain when he lowered his head too quickly. God damn stupid alcohol!

Watching as the billionaire crossed the room and picked up the obviously empty bottle, Bruce felt his interest peak. "What is it? Some experiment?"

Shaking his head, Tony turned around to face the doctor, his face set in a grim line. "Tell me Bruce, when was the last time you had tequila?"

* * *

The morning dawned sooner than any of the Aurors wished.

Glaring down at the sorry excuses still tucked up in their cots drooling away, emerald eyes darted at the clock clicking away on the wall, and snarled. It was twenty past four, they should have been in position by now.

Focusing back on the group that was meant to be his backup, the Saviour mentally weighed up the pros verses the cons of leaving the idiots behind. Deciding that they would be good for a distraction; if nothing else, Harry cast a snorus on his throat. "GET OUT OF BED TO USELESS, LAZY EXCUSE FOR MEN!"

Crashing to the floor, the men tumbled out of their beds; some lucky enough to stay in them, as their morning call was announced. Looking around widely for the source of their sudden alarm, the Aurors slowly caught sight of the pissed off midget standing at the door and grumbled.

"What the hell was that for?" a rather bulky looking brunette called out, already sliding back into his bed. "It's the crack of dawn!"

Narrowing his eyes at the lack of respect being shown, Harry made his way down the path between the beds, until he was standing right in front of the dumbass. Waving his hand almost lazily, the emerald eyed man kept his composure as the Auror was flung into the air by an invisible source. Squealing, the man waved his arms around wildly, his ankles staying perfectly still.

Leaning forward, Harry ignored the yelling men behind him, and stared down at the brunette. "Since you're just dangling there," he spoke, his voice not betraying his amusement. "I'll make it brief. I am your Commanding Officer until I say otherwise. You will listen to me and no-one else; when I say jump, you don't even ask how high. When I say make a three course meal, you make it with all the trimmings. When I say get your lily white arse out of bed and be ready at a certain time, you GET THE FUCK OUT OF BED AND STAND TO ATTENTION READY FOR ACTION! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?"

Whimpering, the brunette muttered an affirmative. Not even close to what he wanted, Harry let the spell go; the Auror crashing to his bed, and turned to the rest of the team. "I SAID DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?"

"SIR, YES SIR!"

Glancing around the shocked team one last time, Harry made his way towards the doors; his heels clicking with every step. "Pack your bags girls, we're shipping out in ten."

* * *

Unable to tear his eyes away from the screen lit up in front of him, Bruce watched as the video him moaned loudly as video Tony ploughed into him.

"I'm dead."

Twisting his head around, dark brown eyes widened as they caught sight of the green gilled genius. "Tony?"

Hands reaching up for his hair, Tony pulled at the locks in desperation, his eyes never leaving the panting couple on the screen. "Harry's going to kill me. Pepper's going to kill me. Oh, fuck!"

Not sure what to do, Bruce hesitantly reached out to comfort the man, but let the hand quickly drop when Tony flinched away. "It's not like we meant for this to happen," he murmured, the sounds from the speakers becoming louder. "I'm sure that if we explained-"

"What?" Tony scoffed, his fingers tightening in his hair. "That we got smashed off our faces and decided to finally fuck like we've been eyeing since we met?"

Sputtering, Bruce was confused. "W-what do you mean, since we meet?"

Finally peeling his eyes away from the giggling pair on the screen, the engineer faced the scientist with a look that clearly said, 'you're fucking with me, right?'. "Bruce, I don't know if anyone's told you this," he spoke slowly to make sure his science bro understood. "But you are as transparent as wind tunnelling through a glass house."

Still not wanting to admit that he was attracted to the genius, Bruce shook his head. "No, nope, I have no idea what you're going on about."

Swivelling his chair around so that he could face Bruce without creasing his neck, Tony huffed loudly. "Don't think that I haven't noticed you checking out my arse and getting all nice and cosy with me in the lab, Mr Big and Green."

Blushing deeply, Bruce glanced down at the floor; his alter ego rearing his head in curiosity. He had honestly thought that Tony hadn't noticed, but now sitting next to the man, he could honestly see that that was a foolish thought. Tony Stark didn't get this far by not noticing details like this.

Feeling bad for making Bruce embarrassed, Tony placed his fingers under the doctor's chin and forced his head up so he could look at him dead in the eyes. "I am so sorry Bruce." And he truly was. "If it was any other situation; shit, if it was three months ago, I would have latched onto you and never let go. But I'm married; and despite how disorganised we may be, I love Harry with all my heart."

Willing the liquid in his eyes to stay where it was and not run down his cheeks, Bruce looked up at the swirling chocolate pools and laughed chokingly. "I guess I knew," he admitted, smiling at the worried looking Stark. "Even before Harry came back, I knew that you and I would never happen; we're just so alike and yet so different. It would have ended bloody."

Slipping off the swivel chair, Tony lowered himself so his arms wrapped around the brunette's waist and his head lay on the other's lap. "I am sorry," he mumbled, scarred fingers so unlike his husband's running through his hair. "But hey, we can still be science bro besties! Harry is useless in the lab unless it's for lifting, and I don't trust the rest of the idiots upstairs with my TV, let alone my suit and awesome gadgets. And I can be your wingman! We can go clubbing, and we'll find you a busty blonde or strong ginger- whatever you're interested in-"

Chuckling lightly at the brunette's ramblings, Bruce let the calmness of the situation wash over him as his twiddled the man's hair between his fingers. He knew that it would take a little while for his attraction towards the engineer to die down, but the fact that Tony still wanted to share a special relationship with him, meant more to him than Bruce could ever say. Sitting quietly for a few minutes, he glanced down at the now quiet brunette and pinched his brows together. "What are you going to tell Harry?"

Not wanting to leave the comfort of the man's lap just yet, Tony closed his eyes and shrugged. "The only thing I can do. Wait for him to come back and beg him for forgiveness. I've fucked up a lot recently, though, so I don't know if he'll forgive me this time. I'll get down on my knees in my black Armani suit and grovel if I have to..."

Tugging lightly on the dark locks, Bruce frowned. "You haven't fucked up Tony."

Raising his head off its cushion, Tony eyed the man in disbelief. "Uh, Ross having one of my designs that could possibly take over the world ringing any bells?"

"That wasn't your fault Tony. It was stolen from you-"

"Yeah, and if I had deleted it when Harry told me to-"

"Then it would have been another design."

Finding themselves at a standstill, the pair eyed each other quietly for a minute before cracking out laughing. Wiping away an imaginary tear, Tony glanced up at his shy counterpart, and grinned. "See, we're awesome together! Now that we've got the drunken romp out of the way; nothing can stop the dynamic duo from taking over the world with our sexy minds and smoking hot science!"

Giggling at the slowly brightening engineer, Bruce turned to the computer and shut it down. Tony could take care of the footage when he's ready.

"So what is it with you checking out my husband's arse? Don't get me wrong, it's a smoking hot ass; hell, I married that ass-"

Rolling his eyes, Bruce turned back to the grinning man and smiled. Despite the impending doom of Harry and Pepper finding out, Bruce couldn't help but think that the drunken night stand was just what they needed to cement their friendship. No matter how fanatical it was.

* * *

Sharp steel capped boots clipped their way along the cement covered floor, as General Thaddeus Ross made his way towards the man that was going make him the hero of the military world.

"Thad!"

Skipping over to the starch uniformed man, Justin Hammer held out his hand in offer; his smile showing off every tooth possible. "My butler said that you were coming, but this is still a wonderful surprise. What can I do for our military's finest?"

Shaking the offered hand quickly, Ross motioned to the covered trolley behind him, and smirked with pride. "We have it."

The look of shock and awe on the stuck up ponce's face was one that the General would remember for a very long time. Justin Hammer had pretty much killed his career with the American Army after his little stint at the last Stark Expo; it only out of necessity that the silver haired man had called him in. If Stark had just played ball all those years ago, than he never would have had to bring in the sloppy seconds to build his weapon for him.

Moving forward, Ross motioned for one of his soldiers to remove the tarp so Hammer could get a good look at his new prize bull. Raking his eyes over every inch of the gleaming metal body, Justin salivated in his mouth. The short time he had spent with the Iron Man suit Lieutenant Rhodes had brought in, had left an indescribable taste in his mouth...

...and he wanted more.

"This is, beautiful," he breathed, walking forward so that he could get a closer look. Trust Stark to put something so magnificent in the trash like a common mac book. "And you said Pym put it together?"

Nodding, Ross clicked his fingers again. Stepping forward, a soldier passed over a crate full of designs, notes, and a manual. "This is everything on his work with it," he said, motioning for the man to put it down beside the trolley. "With all this I'm sure that you'll be able to figure it out."

"Uhuh."

Taking Hammer's destracted tone as an affirmative, Ross made to leave, but stopped when the man yelled out.

"How many did you want again?"

"An army."

* * *

Slamming down into a puddle of mud, Harry glanced around widely as flashing lights soared over his head. The intelligence the Ministry had dug up over the years was lacking severely. Instead of the group of ten max that he had expected to ambush, Harry had landed his team in a forest crawling with monsters and demons.

Catching sight of one of his members being ripped apart by two blood thirsty werewolves, Harry lifted himself back out of the ditch. If there was any Aurors still standing, than they weren't going to be for much longer. There was only one option left if he wanted any chance of stopping these creatures from feasting upon any more wizards and witches.

Eyeing the largest werewolf that he knew was Fenrir, Harry cast the only spell that would cause the most damage the quickest. The jets of steaming hot fire leapt from his hands, engulfing everything in its wake. Hearing a vengeful screech come closer to him from behind, the brunette wizard twirled around, thrashing the line of fire around with him. Lifting his arm up high, emerald eyes caught the flicker of fear and rage in the screaming shadow's eyes, before he brought the burning whip down upon the creature; setting its body aflame.

Not waiting to watch the soulless being die, Harry turned his attention to the rest of the forest and sighed. By morning the place would be nothing more than still smoking ash, and a memory in somebody's mind. Pushing the already consuming fire out even further, the wizard picked off the few stragglers he could find, but mostly watched to make sure that the fire didn't burn too high.

Too busy paying attention to the crackling flames and screaming bodies, Harry didn't notice the taller man sneaking up behind him until was too late. Feeling a blunt object crack against his skull, emerald eyes barely took in the smirking form of Rabastian LeStrange before his vision went dark.

_Tony was going to kill him._


	14. Chapter 14

_Not waiting to watch the soulless being die, Harry turned his attention to the rest of the forest and sighed. By morning the place would be nothing more than still smoking ash, and a memory in somebody's mind. Pushing the already consuming fire out even further, the wizard picked off the few stragglers he could find, but mostly watched to make sure that the fire didn't burn too high._

_Too busy paying attention to the crackling flames and screaming bodies, Harry didn't notice the taller man sneaking up behind him until was too late. Feeling a blunt object crack against his skull, emerald eyes barely took in the smirking form of Rabastian LeStrange before his vision went dark._

_Tony was going to kill him._

* * *

The feeling of cotton balls in his mouth was one that Harry never got used too, no matter how often he woke from comas and head forced injuries. Gritting his teeth in pain, the short wizard slowly opened his eyes and gazed around.

The room was cold and damp, and from what he could see, there was moss growing everywhere.

"Ok," he muttered, placing a hand to his head in hopes of easing the dull throb. "So I'm in a cave. Lovely."

There was no use checking his pockets for weapons, he knew that the enemy would have stripped him of them; and by the cold metal feel around his neck, his magic was not going to get him out of this one. If it had been the newer generation, he probably would have stood a chance, but this was a LeStrange. A crazy, psychotic, and completely insane genius. Rabastian and Rodolphous were the reason that Aurors were once told to proceed with sever caution. Between the pair of them, they had taken down an entire team in less than an hour; add Bellatrix, and they had been the faces behind the most gruesome and brilliantly designed battles of the First and Second War. Rabastian was a skilled master at what he did, and Harry knew without a doubt that the man would have ten different ways to torture him planned out before he could even think about moving from this spot.

Laying his head back down, Harry Potter huffed deeply.

He was screwed.

* * *

Tony and Bruce sat in the lab for rest of the day doing absolutely nothing. It wasn't that there was nothing for them to do; far from it, but even with the easy going attitude they attempted to keep on, they could still sense the bright pink elephant in the room, and it annoyed the shit out of them.

Tapping the end of his pen on the edge of the table, Bruce glanced over at the unusually still man, and sighed. If they were going to get over their huge fuck up, then they were going to have to leave the lab at some point. Chucking the pen down on the table, the brunette stood slowly from his seat and made his way over to his lab partner.

"Tony?"

Not seeing so much as a muscle twitch in response, Bruce lent forward and poked the engineer sharply in the ribs.

"Fuck!" Rubbing the sore spot, Tony opened his eyes and glared angrily up at the grinning doctor. "I'm the one that's supposed to poke people, remember?"

Rolling his eyes, Bruce folded his arms across his chest. "I was only making sure that you were still alive. You were too still and at your age, well..."

Letting his hand fall from where he could swear a bruise was forming, Tony continued to glare at the man as he rose from his seat. "What did you want Bruce?"

That was a loaded question if Bruce cared to think about it. He wanted many things, most he couldn't have. Deciding to answer with the only sentence that wouldn't result in him receiving a black eye, Bruce shrugged non-chantingly.

"We can't hide down here forever."

Tony tensed his shoulders and hardened his gaze, causing the doctor to swear loudly in his mind. If the elephant were real, Bruce would have sworn that it suddenly gained fluoro yellow spots and a pair of antlers. The idea that the pair had held when they first woke; about everything being fine and easy to fix, was the great wall of denial. And Bruce could see it crumbling before his face.

Shuffling over to a bench covered in spare suit parts, Tony called out over his shoulder, hoping that the scientist would take the hint and leave him to wallow in his ever filling pool of self loathing. "You can leave at any time, Banner. I'm not forcing you to stay here."

The use of his last name was like a slap to his face. Since meeting the brilliant man, Bruce could have counted on one hand the amount of times he had heard Tony use his last name; and never was it said with that tone. Stepping lightly, the doctor made to put his hand on the genius' shoulder, but halted last second. "We're not ok, are we?"

Chuckling darkly, Tony turned around to face the shorter brunette, and eyed him. "You're kidding right?" Running a hand through his hair, Tony continued in a shaky voice, never noticing the faint whooshing sound of the lab door opening. "We fucked Bruce! We got royally smashed and did it on the floor of my lab not even twenty four hours after my husband left on a life threatening mission that could end in him finally kicking the bucket. He's going to leave me! I just got him back, and now I've fucked it up! The other's won't even want me on the team anymore once they find out, Pepper and Happy are going to quit, and Rhodey will never talk to me again! I'm going to lose everything, and all because of a stupid fucking mistake!"

Bruce had never been able to handle people yelling at him well. As he had grown older, he had learned to mask the pain it caused, but as chocolate brown eyes ripped through him as if he was nothing, the doctor couldn't help but feel like the little boy watching his dad beat up his mum and knowing that there nothing that he could do to help all over again. Forcing the tears to not fall, Bruce kept his gaze on the struggling man, and choked out. "They won't leave you."

Pulling at his hair in frustration, Tony gazed wildly at the other man. "How do you know? How could you possibly know? They don't know me! They know a self centred dick that flaunts his latest prize in front of the camera like they're a piece of meat. How the fuck do you know that they won't take one look at me after this and tell me to go fuck myself?"

"Because we care for you a lot more than that."

Jolted by the new deep yet powerful tone reverberating around the room, Tony and Bruce snapped their heads around to take in the sudden appearance of Steve and Natasha at the doorway. Taking their shocked silence as permission to continue, Steve stepped forward slowly. "I don't know what happened apart from what you just blurted out, and personally, I don't want to know-"

"Then don't ask."

"- But it must have been some extremely out of control situation for you to have cheated on Harry."

Walking past the still motionless scientists, Natasha picked up the bottle she had noticed sitting on the bench, and sniffed. "Did you finish all of this?" she asked, her nose scrunching at the smell. "I'm Russian, and even I don't go near this stuff. I've seen it eat through steel if left to soak."

This was not the way he wanted the team to find out. Not sure what to say, Bruce turned to silently ask Tony if he did, when he instead found the engineer frowning deeply at the pair infiltrating his work space.

"Is there a reason you two are here?" he quipped, his imaginary quills standing on edge. The last thing he wanted to deal with in that moment was an interrogation, least of all by the red headed assassin and their fearless Captain. "Better yet, how did you get in here?"

Putting the bottle back down, Natasha shrugged. "Dinner's ready, and Steve asked if I could over-ride the system so he could drag you two back up."

Not taking his eyes off the billionaire, Steve attempted to arrange his face so it looked sensitive and understanding. "Look, Tony-"

"Save it, Uncle Sam. And stop with the face, you look constipated."

Dropping the look, Steve opened his mouth once more, but was stopped once again by the arrival of Clint and Coulson. Groaning loudly, Tony flopped back into his chair; his fingers finding a permanent place tangled in his hair. He knew it wasn't good for his scalp, but it was a coping mechanism that he had picked up during his time as a war prisoner, and be buggered if he was going to give it up any time soon. "What is the point of having security measures if every idiot can just waltz in?"

Scowling at the brunette, Coulson confidently waltzed into the room; Clint following half a pace behind.

"What's taking so long?" he enquired, his eyes never leaving the huffing man. "Thor's getting irritable, and if we keep him waiting much longer, he's going to just take the whole meal and retreat to the living room."

Glancing up at the agent, Steve shuffled his foot unsurely. The reason was much more important than Thor stealing the lasagne, but it was not Steve's place to tell-

"Bruce and Stark went at it like rabbits last night."

Swivelling around to glare at the red head, Tony ignored the eyes he could feel on himself. "You know, I'm sure that I could come up with a way to make your cat suit suddenly disappear mid fight."

Knowing that the threat was hollow at best, Natasha ignored the billionaire, and continued her analysis. "Stark's worried that Harry will leave him, and everyone's going to hate him once they find out; and Banner is, from what I can tell, trying not to show the fact that he is emotionally attached to idiot."

Burying his heated face in his hands, Bruce willed himself not to look up when the sound of the lab door opening hit his ears. This was just getting to the point of ridiculous...

"My friends!" Thor exclaimed, his mouth stuffed with the pastry goodness nestled in his arms. "I had wondered where you had gone. Come, let us eat this glorious food whilst you regal me with the tale as to how Bruce became such a colour."

Watching as the doctor turned almost maroon in his embarrassment, Clint waved the thunder god over, and smirked deviously. The thought of the pair finally going at it was hilarious to the archer; or at least until his big brother instincts kicked in and pulverised the idiot for hurting his best friend. "Tony and Bruce got it on last night, and now they're trying to build a secret love nest."

"I do not understand," Thor frowned, his mouth still suffering under the overload of half chewed pasta. "What did they put on?"

Leaving Clint to explain the human terminology for sex, Coulson rounded on the two scientists. The fact that there was so many witnesses was the only reason he didn't have his tazer out and pointed at the self proclaimed genius. Harry was one of the few people he cared about, and the fact that Stark had done such a stupid thing, was sending furious jolts of energy through the agent's body. "Do you have any idea what your little rendezvous could mean for the team? For Harry? You're very lucky that there are so many people here at the moment Mr Stark."

Whirling around to face his potential partner, Steve puckered his brow. "I'm sure that there was a good reason for all this-"

"Yeah," Natasha agreed. "It's called too much liquor. If Pepper doesn't boot your arse for this Stark, I sure fucking am."

The short wizard had grown on her hard shell since he had woken and shown no interest emotionally in Barton; and like hell she was going to let the billionaire get away with breaking his heart.

Finishing off his lecture to Thor about American slang, Clint finally clicked on to what had happened. When asked later, he would deny the fact that it took a moment for the full situation to sink in, but for now, all he could see was red. Pulling his arm back, in preparation to punch the arrogant arsehole right in his face, the archer struggled as he felt two sets of well built arms wrap around his shoulders and chest. Knowing that he would have no chance of breaking Steve and Thor's grip, Clint rounded on the fuming man and spat. "I can't believe after all that talk of having no-one but him, you fuck the first person in sight the moment he leaves! He loves you, you arrogant prick, and you went and did that! I hope you two are very happy with each other, cause I'm going to make sure that the moment he gets back, you never so much as look at him again."

Feeling a headache start to form at the base of his neck, Tony flung himself out of the chair and swept his gaze across the people in the room. Any other day, he would have found the picture hilarious. Steve and Thor were wrapped around a struggling Clint, whilst Bruce sat huddled in a chair with Coulson towering behind him; Natasha leant against a bench with an empty bottle of tequila beside her. Deciding that the only person in that room he needed to explain everything to was Bruce; and that wasn't going to happen with everyone there, Tony marched out of the lab and towards the nearest lift.

He needed to talk to Pepper now.

* * *

The kick in the ribs was not the best wake-up call he had ever had.

Hacking at the sudden loss of air, emerald eyes snapped open in foolish hopes of finding what had caused his sudden alertness.

"Get up now."

Glancing up at the shabby looking man looming over him, Harry pinched his brows together, but made to stand up none the less. The fact that his hands had somehow become tied in his last state of unconsciousness making it very difficult. Feeling a hand hook under his arm and reef upward, the brunette staggered a little, but finally made his way into a somewhat standing position. The lack of fresh air and pain in his temple made it slightly difficult to focus, but with a little bit of determination, he was able to figure out that he was still in the same cave as before, and that the man who woke him was not English.

Watching as a rather muggle looking gun waved from him to the back of the cave and back again, Harry rose an eyebrow. Since when did Death Eaters work with muggles?

"You move now."

Gritting his teeth together as the rifle pressed into his bruised ribs, Harry decided that the best thing he could do for now was follow orders, and staggered towards what he assumed was the beginning of a underground tunnel system. It was cold and covered in slime and mildew; much like the ones he had once come across during his time as a wanted fugitive.

Hissing as the jagged rocks scrapped across his skin, the brunette stumbled and slipped his way through the tunnel system, until finally he came to a stop at a rather large section of cave. People of both magic and non scampered around the cave, yelling out in languages Harry had never heard before. One rather large and obnoxious looking man was shouting at a group standing next to a pile of crates, whilst another man that seemed to radiate power and fear, sat off to the side talking to a man that had his back faced towards him.

"Move."

Feeling the butt of the gun hit his lower back, Harry bit back a snarl, and continued forward; allowing the man to lead him through the mess of men and weapons. Catching sight of one particular crate that still had a legible logo on the side, Harry closed his eyes in pain. Tony had told him that there were still weapons out there that he had yet to find...

"Harry Potter, The Great Wizarding Saviour."

Noticing that his feet had come to a stop, Harry opened his eyes in annoyance, and came face to face with one of the most dangerous men he felt that he would ever meet.

"Rabastian LeStrange," he replied, his tone giving away none of his inner anger and frustration. "Since when did you start working with muggles? I thought that they were scum compared to such social standing gentlemen as yourself."

The quip hit its mark. Watching in morbid satisfaction as the sunken face morphed from a smirk to a sneer, Harry mentally added a point to his side of the board.

Staring down at the young man with haunted silver eyes, Rabastian pulled his lips back to show his straight, yellowing teeth, and grinned. "Well," he whispered, the sound of his deep hacking voice sending shivers down the brunette's spine. "We can't all have billionaire playboy's for husbands, now can we?"

The words were a threat, Harry knew it.

Keeping his gaze on the smirking shell of a man, Harry ignored the other man that made to join them. If he was going to get any information, it would be out of LeStrange, not some new comer.

"It truly is a pleasure to meet the husband of the great Tony Stark."

Standing perfectly still, Harry ignored the others words. Rabastian had just revealed that he knew who he was married to, so it should be no surprise that others in his camp also knew. "What do you want LeStrange?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Rabastian leant back so that he was sitting comfortably on a stack of crates, and grinned. "The Wizarding World to tremble at my feet."

Knowing that the man would keep talking if he stayed quiet, Harry waited for him to continue. It was a game of cat and mouse that they had perfected during the war. Every time one of them had the other, they would taunt each other until finally the other gave, and the inevitable duel would break out. When he had left the country, he had left with the hope that someone else would bring the mad man down; clearly he had been wrong.

Smirking wider, Rabastian folded his arms across his chest; shifting so that his back was more comfortable. He knew just as much as the brunette what was happening, and after what felt like an eternity, the Death Eater finally decided to give. "I want your head on a mantle in my living room. You have been a thorn in my side for much too long, Potter. A thorn that I plan to remove very soon."

Raising an eyebrow, Harry looked up at the taller man and grinned. The Death Eaters hated it when he grinned. It meant that he knew something that they didn't, and that never boded well. "So why did you bring in the wannabe mafia?"

Glancing over to the man standing beside him, Rabastian shrugged. "They actually came to me. In return for weapons and men, I would give them the ultimate revenge on Tony Stark."

This caught Harry's attention. Snapping his head around to face the other man for the first time, Harry took in his appearance and hissed. Light, neutral coloured robes garbed his toned body; letting in the chill of the damp cave that they were clearly not made for. Dark, almost black eyes pierced at him from under bushy eyebrows; the only hair on his head. Finally catching sight of the hideous scar running down the side of his face, Harry let out a growl in rage.

"Raza."

Grinning widely, the man opened his arms in welcome. "As I said Mr Potter, it is a pleasure to meet you."

Pushing down the urge to charge at the man and kick him in the groin, Harry whirled back around to the other brunette and snapped. "Why haven't you killed me already? I can't make Tony's weapons."

"No," Rabastian agreed, flicking a fleck of dirt off his blood stained robes. "But you can draw in the man that can. We know that you're in contact with Stark; why do you think we waited until now to have the Ministry call you in?"

Harry couldn't believe it. The only one that was still alive and knew where he was, was Kingsley, and the thought of his fellow Order member betraying him like that was impossible.

Stepping away from his leaning post, Rabastian sauntered his way over; his bright silver eyes shining with a sense of purpose. "Don't worry Potter, the Minister was very adamant about protecting you. It took a double dose of the Imperious to finally subdue him; not that really matters, he'll be dead in the next hour or so. Good Aurors are so hard to find these days."

Unable to contain his rage any longer, Harry made to charge at the psychotic man, but was stopped by a cluster of hands wrapping around him and pulling him backwards. Snarling in rage, the brunette struggled against his captures, yelling out every profanity he could think of. He would get out of here if it was the last thing he did.

And when he did, he will watch them all burn.

* * *

Tony didn't know what to do. His exterior was oozing calmness and ease, but his mind was a going off like a circuit-board that someone had just poured coffee all over. He had just spent four years in celibacy, and then the moment he had his love back, he got down and dirty with the nearest willing body; which happened to be his new science bro.

Tapping his foot impatiently, Tony sprung out of the elevator the moment the doors opened.

"Tony?"

Making his way towards the kitchen, Tony winced when he caught sight of the long legged red head sitting at the kitchen bench, huddled over a personal tablet.

Glancing up from the latest sales figures, Pepper took in the billionaire's appearance and frowned. The last time he looked like that, was when he locked himself in the lab for a week with a case of gin and pile of frozen pizzas. "What's wrong? The others disappeared downstairs when I got here, and Jarvis hasn't said anything."

Hooking her elbow with his hand, Tony gently pulled the PA out of her seat, and pushed her towards his room. "We need to talk."

Following her boss through the apartment, hazel eyes caught a quick glance at the elevator opening to reveal a rather sober looking team, before being shoved into the bedroom. This was not good. If there was one thing Tony never did, it was push her around. For him to be so wound up, that he handled her in such a way...

Placing a soft, manicured hand on the quickly unravelling man, Pepper led him towards the bed, and forced him to sit down. "Tony? What's going on?"

He couldn't look at her.

He just couldn't.

The moment he did, he knew that she would see how much of a fuck up he was, and leave him forever. Staring down at the blank void in front of him, Tony opened his mouth to hopefully explain and plead his case, but could get nothing more out than a gagging, chocking sound.

"_Sir,"_ Jarvis' smooth tones echoed, startling the tightly wound man. _"Would it perhaps be easier to simply show Miss Potts the video footage?"_

Knowing that there was no way he was going to get it out, Tony nodded mutely. Pepper watched the interaction between machine and creator with a sense of growing dread. She knew that the genius had been a bit off since Harry had left the day before, but Bruce had gone down to the lab to look after him, hadn't he?

Dimming the lights, Jarvis tinted the wall sized window and quickly started projecting the recorded footage on the home made screen.

"_So do you want to talk?"_

* * *

Pepper Potts was a proud, strong, and determined woman.

She cared strongly for the man that she not only worked for, but also considered to be one of her closest friends; but as she watched the footage from the night before play out across the screen, she couldn't help the deep wave of disgust and fury that washed through her. Clenching the hem of her skirt tightly in her hands, hazel eyes took in every detail of the footage.

Pausing just as the exhausted pair slumped over in a drunk filled haze, Jarvis spoke up; his voice soft and what one would consider as worry. _"Would you like me to play the events that followed this morning?"_

Not giving the engineer a second to reply, Pepper voiced an affirmative, and watched as the rest of the footage played on the screen. The confusion and worry between the two scientists was probably not what the red head was expecting; although she had no idea way, considering the amount of alcohol the pair had consumed the night before. Asking the AI to fast forward as it became apparent that after talking, the pair just sat in silence for the rest of the day, Pepper waited until she noticed Bruce finally move from his corner of the room.

"Jarvis, stop."

Stopping the video, Jarvis started it back up in real time, and waited silently to be called upon once more. He knew that his creator had done wrong, but even though he was only a machine; as many people told Tony time and time again, he did feel. And he truly felt that his creator was not the only one to blame.

"_It's called too much liquor. If Pepper doesn't boot your arse for this Stark, I sure fucking am."_

Wincing at the words, Jarvis stared down at his creator; and not for the first time, wished that he was human, or at least had arms so that he could wrap the fragile man up in them and never let him go. Silently musing over the possibility of getting the one armed robot trio up the elevator and into the genius' room so that they could comfort him, Jarvis stopped the video as Tony left the lab, and opened the windows once more so the glow of the city's lights could fill the room.

Pepper sat silently on her perch, and mused over what she had just seen. She was naturally angry, no, she was pissed. Harry was her best friend, her partner in crime; so for Tony to go off and do something like that? She knew that the irrational side of her brain was taking over, and that it wasn't just him in the wrong, but like bloody hell she wasn't going to give the man a piece of her mind.

"I can't believe you."

The cold, sharp whisper stabbed at the engineer in a way that no other words ever had. He knew that Pepper would be angry at him, but he had never heard her use such a tone, especially towards him. Keeping his head lowered, Tony opened his mouth to say- To say what? Sorry? How could an apology ever hope to fix this?

Noticing that the brunette was going to stay silent, Pepper continued on. "I have a right good mind to have the company lawyers draw up divorce contracts right here and now. He stayed celibate for you- You stayed celibate for him! Four years of separation, and not once did you even let your eyes wander! So how could you possibly do a thing like this now?"

Choking on his closed up throat, Tony swallowed thickly. "He left me."

Staring down at the broken man, Pepper let all the anger and frustration her friend had put her through, burst out in an angry tirade. "So what if he left! He is coming back you unbelievably stupid man! Rhodey and I are lucky to see each other once a month, but you don't see either of us jumping in bed with the first person to walk our way. I have seen you through separations, hang-overs, the entire Iron Man debacle, and near death experiences, and I have never felt so emotionally drained as I do right now. Harry is my best friend, Tony; even if he did leave without so much as a word. I will always put his happiness first, even if that means removing you from the picture."

Knowing that he deserved every word, Tony wrapped his arms around his mid section, and nodded. "I honestly didn't mean for it to happen," he muttered, his eyes finally leaving the floor to gaze blankly up at the strong willed woman. "And if you think that filing for divorce is the best thing for Harry, then I want you to make sure that he gains everything that he is entitled to. But I also want you to know, that I will do my fucking hardest to hold onto that man, and never let him go. Harry pulled me out of one of my darkest periods, and I refuse to let him walk away again without a fight! I may have fucked up, but that does not mean that I shouldn't be given a chance to get on my hands and knees, and beg for forgiveness."

The sudden fire blazing in the chocolate brown orbs was something that Pepper had not seen in a long time. It was as if a piece of the old Tony had returned, and the red head just didn't have the heart in her, to stomp it out and bury it in a hole. Switching her mind back to her analytical, PA side, Pepper straightened her back, and raised an eyebrow. "Very well, Mr Stark. Mr Potter estimated that he would be returning in approximately two weeks, how do you plan to deal with this situation?"

The return of his wonderful, fiery assistant and friend sent a tingling sensation through the engineer's body. She had forgiven him, or at least decided to let him live for a little while longer. Glancing at the door separating the pair from the rest of the team, Tony felt a sudden jolt of shame and irritation. "First things first. We've got a few team members to set straight."


	15. Chapter 15

In the time he had served as Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shaklebolt had found that there was nothing more irritating than a stack of useless paperwork and a migraine to match. Tapping the end of his finger on the abused parchment, Kingsley rubbed tiredly at his temple in hopes of dispelling the building pressure.

Knock, knock, knock.

Lifting his head from the slouched position he had fallen into several hours ago, dark obsidian eyes glanced over at the clock sitting on his desk and frowned. It was ten past two in the morning; the only people still in the building should be the night cleaners and him. Martha; his sectary, had left over an hour ago, and the rest of the ministry long before that.

Rising silently from his seat, the ageing wizard winced as a loud pop rang through the room.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Minister?"

Mentally noting to add his old exercise regime back into his already hectic schedule, Kingsley made his way towards the door and pulled out his wand. Mad-Eye was going to kick his arse in the afterlife as it was; he wasn't going to give the old codger another reason. Breathing deeply, the Minister raised his wand; if he was finally going to be taken out, like bloody hell it was going to be as a Politian.

Reefing the door open, Kingsley snapped his arm forward; the first curse already on the tip of his tongue.

"Blue blazes Man! What in Merlin's name are you trying to do?"

Taking in the rather displeasing sight of Boris Newman, the Minister lowered his wand slightly and breathed a sigh of-

Of what?

If he was honestly truthful to himself, the slight rush he received in that one moment had made the man feel more alive than he had since he took the post of Minister. Glancing subtly over the still sputtering man's shoulder for traces of anyone else in the hall, Kingsley muttered a distracted apology and motioned for the man to come in.

Huffing at the treatment he had just received, Boris waddled his way into the office; his rather strained robes making a groaning sound with each movement. Sneaking once last glance at the hallway, Kingsley closed the elegantly detailed door with a solid thump. "Sorry Newman, I was expecting someone else."

Sitting down on the only chair in front of the desk that was saved from the piles of books and forms that swamped the others, Boris groaned in relief as his weight transferred off his feet and onto the poor thing. "You're much too jumpy, Shaklebolt," he sighed. "After all, who in their right mind would attack the Ministry of Magic?"

Moving back to his own chair, obsidian eyes darkened as memories of the Second War flashed through his mind. "You'd be surprised."

The haunted tone in the ex-Auror's voice sent chills down Boris' back. He had always been wary of the old War Hero, but had tried to not let it show; after all, fear was weakness, and weakness was useless to the mission. Shifting uncomfortably, Boris let his hand land on his protruding stomach; the handle of his wand barely visible. "Yes, well- I actually had a purpose for this visit, I'm afraid."

Leaning forward, Kingsley raised an eyebrow. "What could possibly be important enough for you to get out of bed at this time of night?"

"The results of the mission you sent my men on." Using his other hand, Boris pulled a rolled up piece of parchment out of his pocket and handed it over. "When I heard no word, I sent a scout out to find out what happened. They returned with confirmation of every body sent out; except one."

Glancing over the report, Kingsley stomped down the urge to groan loudly. It would seem that the mission could be considered somewhat a success considering the amount of enemy bodies that were caught in the fire, but the amount of theirs was too great. "I take it that Potter was the one missing?"

Nodding, Boris took the letter back and rubbed at his moustache thoughtfully. "With the way the fire spread, we have reason to believe that Mr Potter was the one to set the fire, and from what I have gathered, left the team to burn whilst he escaped."

The sound of wood scrapping across wood echoed through the room as a thunderous looking Kingsley towered over the Defence Minister. "Don't you ever suggest that Harry Potter would do such a cowardly thing as run in the heat of battle."

His whole body was quivering in rage, but as he glared down at the startled blonde, he found that he just didn't care. Harry was the last of the greatest warriors Kingsley had ever had the fortune to fight beside, and like hell he was going to let a man that didn't even know what the unforgivables felt like, call him a coward. "Harry Potter was the reason you and every other snot nosed bastard like you is still alive. He led his friends and family to their deaths, just so the world would keep on spinning. I was, am honoured to have fought beside him; and I hope that before I die, I will have a chance to repay that man and fight with him once more."

Staring up at the trembling man, Boris Newman felt the startled look on his face fall away, leaving nothing but a menacing smirk. "I do apologise, Minister Shaklebolt, but I'm afraid that your wish will not be coming true."

Kingsley was thrown for a loop.

Frowning down at the blonde, obsidian eyes caught a glimpse of the man's wand, just in time to duck under the mahogany wood and see a vibrant green light fly over his head.

"Come now Minister!" Boris sneered, his arm raising to aim once more. "Surely you would rather die like a man. What would your dear Potter say if he found out that you died cowering behind a desk?"

How could he have been so stupid? Clenching the dark wood of his wand in his fingers, Kingsley closed his eyes and kept an ear out for any footsteps. Boris was right, he was going to die fighting, but that didn't mean that he was going to die tonight.

Counting each step, Kingsley waited till he heard the blonde hit the step before he would be visible, and sprung. Flying forward, the Minister ignored the screaming muscles as he cast an immobilization spell at the shocked man, and grunted painfully as his body slammed into him. Landing heavily on the ground, Kingsley rolled off the motionless man, and sighed; he was seriously out of shape.

Slowly pulling himself up, obsidian eyes glanced down at the idiot; kicking his wand out of the blonde's hand as he did so. He had known for a while that he had someone in his higher Ministers that was at the very least a Death Eater sympathizer, but he honestly had ruled the blonde out because he had assumed the man to be too stupid. Muttering a few quick words, Kingsley watched in remembrance as silver vapours spilled from his wand to form a ghostly form that looked suspiciously like a lion.

"Miss Martha, I need you to come in immediately. Meet me in the spare room, tell no-one."

Watching as the Lion gave a roar in reply, the Minister waited for the beautiful piece of magic to disappear through the closed door, before turning around and facing his would-be killer. "I'm going to torture you to the point that you beg for death," he whispered, his steeled gaze flashing with a sense of determination that had disappeared after he took to the desk. "And then you are going to tell me who you work for and what you have done with Harry."

And if the fear he saw in the former Defence Minister's eyes sent a wave of satisfaction down Kingsley's back, then he was never going to tell.

* * *

Sweeping his way out of the bedroom, Tony could honestly say that he was over the whole debacle that a. should never have happened, and b. should not have concerned anyone but Bruce, Harry and himself. Hearing the ever present sound of Pepper's killer heels follow him, the brunette stormed into the Living room, and eyed the team as they straightened themselves up.

Watching as they all simultaneously opened their mouths to either shout or growl at the genius, Tony held his hand up for silence and waited for the group to settle back down and shut up.

"Now," Mentally patting himself on the back for designing the room so he had plenty of pacing space, the engineer carefully walked backwards and forwards. "I understand that you all may know about what happened between Bruce and myself, but that is just it; it's between me and Bruce-"

Opening his mouth to snarl at the brunette, Clint scowled as he was met with a hand once more.

"Harry is the only other person this concerns," Tony went on, eyeing the archer as he did so. "He is also the only opinion I care about. I told Pepper because if I didn't, then one of you idiots would have blabbed, and I would have lost a lot of body parts; all that I am very fond off."

He could feel the heated glare burning into the side of his head, but as long as he didn't look at her, he knew that she would stay quiet. "I honestly don't care what you lot think," he continued. Both he and Pepper knew that he was lying through his teeth, but the others didn't, and as long as he kept talking, he was fine. "You lot knew what I was like when Fury called me in-"

"But that isn't you."

Whirling around from his latest cycle around the coffee table, Tony eyed the row of superheros, frowning when he caught sight of the confused looking soldier sitting between Bruce and 'The Agent'. "Yes it is. You said so yourself Spangles, I'm a self centred, spoilt brat with too much money and no care for anyone or anything else."

Shaking his head, Steve kept his bright baby blues aimed at the billionaire and huffed. "You are arrogant," he agreed, ignoring Clint as he snorted and Pepper as she sharply nodded. "And any son of Howard Stark was bound to be spoilt, but you risked your life to save an entire city from a missile heading straight towards it. You opened your home to a group of people that you didn't know from a bar of soap, and then lavished us with gifts that we've never been privy to before. Howard was never that generous."

Pushing a strand of hair behind her ear, Natasha glanced over at the blonde, and frowned. "This isn't about Stark being a nice guy; it's about him cheating on Harry with another member of the team. How are we supposed to function out there, when we can't even stand to be near each other in here? When Harry gets back-"

"He will be coming back to a solid team and worried husband." The Doctor's voice was low and scratchy. Lifting his head slowly, Bruce glanced at each member, sighing deeply when dark brown finally hit Tony. "Tony will tell him if he sees fit, but everyone will respect his decision. Either way, I think it would be best for everyone if I hand in my resignation and return to Calcutta."

The muttered confession was instantly met with roars of protest; Tony and Steve being the loudest.

"You can't leave! We need you here; you belong here, just like the rest of us!"

"Don't think for one second that I won't lock you in the lab, Mr Green, cause I will!"

Raising his hand to still the team's yelling, Bruce waited for the group to settle. "I honestly believe that this would be the best for everyone," he clarified, hoping that they wouldn't start yelling again. "It was my fault just as much as Tony's, and if Harry is ever to feel comfortable within the group again, then I think that it would be best if he wasn't constantly reminded of his husband's unfaithfulness. Trust me, I don't want to leave-"

"Then don't."

The strong feminine voice sliced through the air, causing everyone in the room to remember the quiet red head that had stood faithfully by Tony's side since he had entered. Straightening her shoulders, Pepper eyed the man that she had started to come to see as a friend, and pursed her lips. "Don't get me wrong," she snapped, her voice ringing like the sound of a whip causing both Steve and Bruce to flinch. "When Harry finds out; and he will, he'll be beyond pissed and more than likely ready to castrate the pair of you. But you will stay here, and you will take it like a man, because all of this is both of your fault, and it is yours and Tony's responsibility to clean it up."

Tightening the grip she had on her personal tablet, hazel eyes glared down at the subdued Doctor, before shifting it to her dumb ass of a boss. Like hell she was going to let either of them run away from this and leave her to clean up. "No-one is to speak a word of this to Harry when he returns until Tony has spoken to him. Am I clear?"

Staring up at the personal assistant, the team couldn't help but feel their respect and fear for the woman rise as they nodded in agreement. There was no doubt that this woman could handle herself, and with the way that she had just put a man with sever anger issues and her own boss back in their corners cowering, was something to be highly wary of.

Watching as each person nodded; Tony more so flinching than anything, Pepper flicked her hair back over her shoulder and sighed. God she needed a holiday. Flicking her finger across the tablets screen, fingers typed away quickly at the document brought up, grinning smugly as everything lined up to her satisfaction.

"I have changed your meetings for the next month," she stated, her eyes never leaving the tablet but still knowing that the engineer was listening with both ears. "They have been either cancelled, moved back, or redirected to my personal schedule. That does not mean that you have a month off; when you are not following the training schedule Phil has put together, you are to be looking over the files I pass on, following up on the latest designs for the upcoming 'Nexus II' range, or thinking up ways to beg for Harry's forgiveness. Rhodey has been sent a request to return until I deem you fit; this is also for your protection. This is not negotiable, do I make myself clear Mr Stark?"

Tony Stark had been called stupid and an idiot on more occasions than he cared to admit, and he would probably be called it on many more; but this would defiantly not be one of them. Swallowing thickly, the brunette nodded quickly, hoping that she wouldn't give in to the urge of throwing the computer at his head, as he was sure that she was thinking. "Yes Miss Potts that is satisfactory, and may I say that you're looking absolutely stunning today. Is those Gabana?"

Rolling her eyes at the weak attempt to suck up, Pepper opened her mouth to tell the man off, when a sudden movement in the corner of her eye stopped her. Turning her head, the red head glanced down at the fire place Tony insisted that they put in every building, and stared down at the very much human head sitting between two logs.

"I need to talk to a Mr Stark, it's about his husband."

* * *

He knew struggling would get him nowhere, but like bloody hell he was going to make it any easier for his captors than what it already was. Sinking his heels into the soft, earthy ground, Harry scratched, punched and bit at every hunk of skin he could find.

"Stop struggling!"

Feeling the arm around his neck tighten, emerald eyes widened slightly as air became harder and harder to draw in. Knowing that they wouldn't let up until he let go of the latest chunk of flesh he had sunk his teeth into, Harry released the arm with a gasp; the pressure on his throat easing off as he did so.

"Where do we put him?"

"In the cell with the others. Not like he can do much anyways."

Slumping against the largest body dragging him through the cave, Harry watched with interest as one of the more grimy looking lackeys stepped forward and unlocked a metal door a couple of steps before them. From a quick glance, the wizard was able to tell that whatever was put in there, was not going to be good. The fact that the metal seemed to have been melted onto the cave wall, was not a good sign; struggling once more, Harry heard a satisfying howl of pain as one lackey fell to the ground holding his genitals.

"Get him in there!" The downed man screamed, his hands gently examining his injured manhood.

Feeling his body move forward once more, Harry landed one more kick to another's ribs, before his body found its way into the air. Falling to the cave's floor with a muffled thump, the wizard glanced up at the door to face his captors one last time, but found the metal door was already covering his view.

"I hope the beast rips you apart Bitch!" The muffled words echoed.

Stifling the words hanging at the tip of his tongue, Harry slowly picked himself up and groaned. He was in a cave, after being taken hostage by a mad man and the bastard that tried to kill his husband, and was now facing the possibility of being torn to shreds by an unknown creature. Great.

Glancing around the moist walls and muddy surroundings, Emerald eyes stilled as the sound of heavy panting hit his ears like an explosion of sound. Gulping audibly, the brunette pivoted on his heels slowly, his eyes straining against the darkness in hope of catching sight of the possible threat before his face was ripped off. He knew that he was screwed, but like hell he wasn't at least going to see the monster before he died.

Focusing in on the corner the heavy panting echoed from, emerald eyes widened comically as the silhouetted figure reignited a memory from time long since past.

"Oh fuck no."

* * *

Clint was not having a good day.

First he gets his arse handed to him by not only Natasha, but Coulson as well, then he finds out that his best friend's husband cheated on him with another team member; and finally, gets cowled by a woman wearing killer heels and an attitude to match; the fact that Pepper Potts could scare Nick Fury if she wanted to, meant absolutely nothing.

So when the bald head of a dark skinned Brit suddenly appeared in the fireplace, the archer was about ready to find some C-4 and blow something up.

"What the hell?"

Sensing the redhead beside him reach for her gun, the blonde did the same and aimed it at the head that just. Should. Not. Be. There. Glancing at the others through the corner of his eye, Clint was happy to see that Thor, Steve and Coulson had all stood in defence against the possible threat.

"Shaklebolt?"

Moving his attention to the billionaire, Clint frowned deeply; when instead of moving away from the weird head like thing, the brunette moved forward; going so far as to kneel down beside it and lean in.

Staring in shock at the grim looking head and the engineer, Coulson stood up and made his way around the coffee table. "Do you know who this is Stark?"

Nodding, Tony kept his chocolate brown eyes on the fireplace; his eyes clouding over with a sense of dread. "Harry used to show me pictures of his world all the time. Kingsley Shaklebolt here used to be a member of the Order; and from the letter Harry received before he left, is now Minister of Magic in the UK."

Lowering his gun slightly, Clint watched as the rest of the team shuffled closer to the fireplace. He was still slightly freaked out about the fact that there was a still very much alive head in the hearth, but for now he would just stay where he was and keep an eye on the proceedings.

Shifting on the balls of his feet, Tony clutched the edge of the wall; his eyes never leaving the bald man. "You said that you were after Tony Stark, well here I am. So talk."

Lifting his gaze, Kinsley took in the ruffled appearance of his old friend's husband, and could help but compare the brunette to the late Sirius Black. Everything from the way the man held himself, to the glint of self sacrifice he could see in the swirling brown orbs reeked of the former Black Lord. Trust Harry to find another person so like the one he lost, that he could take of them and keep them from harm.

Smiling softy at the thought, Kingsley stared at the man for a second before replying. "Harry Potter and a team of Aurors were sent on a mission yesterday to take down the last of a renegade group that have been terrorising the Wizarding World since the end of the Second War. I have just been informed that the team was ambushed and the area they were positioned in, was set alight. Any body that was in the fires range was incinerated."

A cold chill swept through the room as the Minister regaled his information. Noticing the blood drain from the engineer's face, Clint clenched his teeth. He was still pissed at the man, but the worry for the wizard's well being was greater.

"Have you found Mr Potter?" Coulson spoke up, his calm agent persona showing the archer and Natasha exactly how frightened he was.

Shaking his head, Kingsley eyed the formal suited man. In the brief time he had been able to talk to the Saviour, he had been told of the motley crew he had recently become a part of, and the man that looked after them. The fondness in Harry's tone as he had spoken was something that the Minister never thought he would hear again; but was so glad that he had. "I have recently finished interrogating a spy within the Ministry. Harry was apparently taken away by the leader of the rogues before the fire could get near him. Since the response team has not found his body, I would like to presume that the spy was telling the truth, and Harry is currently a hostage to the Death Eaters."


	16. Chapter 16

His heart hammered painfully within his chest, as emerald green eyes stared widely into the dark abyss.

"Hello?"

Shallow breathing filled the damp cave, instantly raising the fine hairs on the back of the wizard's neck. Straining his eyes to see further into the dark hole he seemed to have found himself in, Harry felt a shiver of fear race its way down his back as the shadows shifted. He had been up against many things over his short life, but never without his magic.

Staying as still as he possibly could, the wizard prayed that the creature would stay where it was and ignore the oh so tempting sound of his blood thumping wildly through his veins. Scrapping across the damp cavern walls, the silhouette raised into what Harry hoped was a standing position. He had never been very tall, so the fact that the creature was already a good foot and a half taller than him wasn't that surprising to the wizard.

"You've already played this trick Greyback, it won't work again."

The voice was deep and raspy; and nothing like Harry was expecting. Figuring that the creature was at least somewhat humanoid to be able to speak English so fluently, Harry squinted into the darkness. "I'm not Greyback. What are you?"

Chuckling condescendingly, the figure limped its way towards the brunette; the dim light available doing very little to help the wizard identify what the creature was. "You may not be Greyback, but I know a Death Eater when I smell one. You must have fucked up something big if they chucked you in here so close to the full moon. I had almost thought that they had forgotten about me, seeing as how long it's been since I've been fed. And Moony is so hungry."

Perking up at the name, Emerald eyes sharpened as much as they could in the dark. Stalking forward, Harry stopped mere feet from the towering form, and snarled. "What did you just say?"

Watching intently as they creature before him stooped down to face the wizard, Harry held back the cry of alarm, as the tattered hood was lowered to reveal the haunted, grim covered face of Remus Lupin.

"I said that it's full moon soon," the lifeless brown eyes of the once great man smirked menacingly. "And pretending to be a dead man is not going to stop Moony from tearing you apart."

* * *

The talk with the Minister of Magic did not last for much longer. Glancing over at the worried team, Coulson tapped his fingers on the bench top as he waited for the phone connection to go through.

"Fury."

Wheeling around to face the kitchen wall, Phil straightened his back out of sheer reflex. "Sir, we have a situation."

"Is it anything to do with the mess Stark has currently put us in?"

"No sir. This is to do with the solo mission Mr Potter was sent on." The tone in the Agent's voice was the only indication that he was shaken by the Minister's visit.

"Has he returned?"

Coulson could hear the concern in the Director's voice. "No sir. We have just received word from the United Kingdom's Minister of Magic that the team Harry was leading was found in the remains of a forest fire six hours ago."

The line was silent for a moment. Over the last few months, the short wizard had not only connected with his fellow Avengers, but some of the members of SHIELD as well. The fact that he was such a powerful force on the field and didn't take crap from no-one had put the brunette rather high in the Director's book.

"And Potter?"

"Is currently a hostage of the terrorist organization he was sent to deal with."

The sigh coming through the ear piece was one of relief and reasoning. As long as the wizard was alive, they could bring him back; no matter where he was.

"Assemble the team," the Director's barking tone snapped out, his role as a commander shining through. "Get them to the nearest airport, a jet will be there waiting for them. Did the Minister give you a way to contact him?"

Ignoring the rush of calmness that came with being given orders so he knew what to do next, Coulson voiced an affirmative and waited for the Director to finish speaking. Flipping his mobile closed, the blonde made his way back into the living room where the team sat quietly, waiting for their next course of action.

"Make sure that you have everything you need. We leave in ten."

* * *

It wasn't possible.

It just couldn't be real.

But as emerald eyes stared down upon the ragged form of Remus Lupin, Harry felt his chest explode with overwhelming emotions. It just wasn't possible. He had mourned this man, he had clung to this man's motionless body as others filtered through the Great Hall looking for their loved ones. And now, here he was, standing in front of him like he had never left.

"Remus?"

Thin, skeleton like hands clutched at the mud covered rags tightly, as the pair took each other in, neither quite sure if the other was real or just a figment of their imagination. Unsure if the man would do something stupid if he moved too quickly, Harry stilled where he stood, and took in the man before him.

Once dark blonde locks that used to frame the gentle face, now hung limp and mattered, sticking to any patch of skin it could find. The rags that the man had been gifted with draped off his bony shoulders, giving Harry a strong feeling that the man had not been fed properly in a very long time. Taking in the fearful and slightly crazed look that adorned the blonde's face, Harry steeled himself for any possible reaction, and slowly moved forward.

"Remus?" he whispered, almost as if he was afraid that if he spoke any louder, it would shatter the alternate reality he had fallen into. "Remus, it's me, Harry."

Raising his hackles in a way that reminded the brunette of the man's alter ego, Remus stepped forward and latched onto the shorter man's wrists. "Don't you dare utter that name! You have no right to speak of any of them."

Breathing quickly, Harry did not dare to try and remove his hands from the other's grip. Without access to his magic, he was as easily breakable as a normal human, and the last thing he wanted to deal with on top of all this, was a broken bone of dislocated joint. Keeping his eyes on the swirling copper orbs above him, Harry steadied his breathing before opening his mouth and speaking as calmly as he could. If he was going to survive this, than he needed the werewolf to believe that he really was him.

"My name is Harry James Potter, my mother was Lily and my father was James." The grip in his arms tightened, the sensation almost causing the brunette to cry out. Forcing down the pain, emerald eyes bore on. "When I was thirteen, I told you that I wanted to kill Sirius for what I thought he did, and then you stopped me from following him into the veil two years later-"

The hopeful words cut into the taller man like nothing else. Roaring out in rage, Remus in a surprising show of strength, swung the startled brunette around by the arms, and right into the nearest wall. "You could have found all that out from one of the others you have stashed around here, Death Eater!"

Gasping for the air that had been forced out of his lungs, Harry coughed violently. "I was best man when you married Tonks," he wheezed, his eyes watering at the lack of fresh air. "You named me Godfather to Teddy!"

Slamming his foot into the shorter man's ribs, Remus howled in anger. How dare this scum tell such lies. "I would never name filth like you my son's Godfather!"

Suddenly finding himself standing once more, Harry grabbed wildly for the hand tangled in his hair, but latched on to no avail. He knew that he could have the man on the floor in seconds, but the realization that it was his last living family member had him hesitating. "You were the first person I told that I preferred men," he cried out in vain. His mouth filling with blood as it connected with the slimy stone etched along the wall. "You told me about you and Sirius being together at Christmas!"

Smashing the younger man's face into the wall once more, Remus growled in frustration. Why wouldn't the Death Eater stop already? Was this Greyback's new form of torture? To remind him of times long past that he could never have again?

Grinding the brunette's skull into the stone, Remus lowered his head until his lips were parallel with the other's ear, and sneered. "I think the other pieces of scum were right to toss you to the dogs, if this is how stupid you really are. After all, doesn't everyone know that Harry Potter is dead?"

* * *

The thin layer between the man and the beast was at the point of shredding, and Bruce was afraid to find out what would happen if it did.

Having no suit to prepare or weapons to ready, the doctor decided to use the small amount of time he had before they left, and talk to his other side about the happenings of the last few days. Sitting quietly on the sofa, Bruce let his hands fall lightly onto his crossed knees, as the world around him fell and the inner sanctum of his mind came forth.

Feeling the growing presence of the Other Guy, Bruce turned to the darker corners of his mind, and smiled hesitantly. They had made huge progress in working together since the Loki scenario, but that still didn't mean that it could all go downhill if he didn't follow caution. After all, the Hulk was still a Great White, and sharks like him are never completely tamed.

Stepping forward, Bruce bowed his head slightly so that the giant green man would not see him as a threat. Waiting for the Hulk to reply, Bruce flinched slightly as he felt the other's anger for once be directed at him.

"Is everything ok?"

Huffing, Hulk came out from the darkness he usually shrouded himself in, and glared down at the much shorter man. "Bruce hurt Harry and Tin Man."

Sighing deeply, Bruce looked up at the intense green orbs and winced. "I didn't mean to," he muttered; not sure if his other side understood, but needing to talk out what happened anyways. "It's just, Tony has been so nice to me; to us, since we were pulled out of Calcutta, and it's so hard not to like him. He just has that personality that draws you in; that lights your whole world up because he smiled at you, and I haven't felt like that since Betty, Hulk."

Lowering himself so that he was sitting before the giant, Bruce continued on, ignorant to the fact that the Hulk was paying attention to every word he said.

"And then Harry came along," he sighed, running a shaky hand through his mattered locks. "He came along and not only put his claim to Tony, but he made me feel like I finally had someone I could fully trust. He isn't like the others-"

Glancing up at the silent mass of muscles, Bruce smiled depressingly. "He doesn't pity or fear us. Hell, he hit me the other day and didn't back away five seconds later. He is beautiful, and intelligent; and just like Tony, everything I can't have."

Thinking back on the team's reaction to the night before, and how they were all pinning the blame on Tony, Bruce groaned in frustration. "I know that it wasn't just Tony that fucked up when we slept together, and I hope to god that Harry chews me out for it. But I need you to understand that I still want to be a part of the team. I haven't felt like this in such a long time, and I don't think that I could go back. Not after this."

Staring down at the puny man he shared a body with, Hulk frowned deeply. The Tin Man and Harry were nice to Hulk, so when Bruce locked the Hulk out of his mind the night before and acted out on his impulses, Hulk had become enraged. The only thing that had stopped him from taking over, was that he didn't want to hurt any of his new friends. Knowing that the brunette was still being eaten away inside over the whole mess, Hulk grunted in acceptance.

He would keep himself at bay for now and help the others out, but that didn't mean that he was happy with Bruce. Slipping back into the shadows, Hulk growled out a warning to the brunette.

"Bruce stupid again, and Hulk go to jungle and stay."

* * *

Spitting out the blood collecting in his mouth, Harry glanced up at the fuming blonde and gaped. "Who the fuck said I was dead? If anyone's dead here, it's you!"

Finally having had enough of being used as a crash test dummy, Harry flipped himself out of the other's grip, and slid across floor so there was some space between them once more.

"I mourned your death," he panted, holding a grimy sleeve to his cut lower lip. "I watched as yours and everyone else's bodies were lowered into the ground beside the Lake. Minerva, Molly, Kingsley and I were the only Order members that survived; and from what that dick, Rabastian said when I was brought in, that list has dwindled down to just me! I lost my entire family that day, and now suddenly I find out, that you've been hiding out with these arseholes this entire time?!"

Carefully taking in the brunette before him as he ranted on about the idiots he had just lost in a battle, and how his husband was going to kill him, Remus noticed for the first time, a small; but very much there, scar sitting along the younger man's jaw line.

"How did you get that scar?" he rasped, his raging fire quelling at the sight of the mark.

Not needing to look to where the blonde was pointing, Harry could almost thank Merlin for his idiocy when he was younger. Smiling sadly at his old parental figure, Harry lifted a hand and traced the raised skin lightly. "It was the Christmas of my fourth year. I was meant to have it at school, but I wanted to have it with you and Sirius, so I set up a small dinner in the Shrieking Shack and had Dobby collect you. When Sirius handed over his present, I decided that shaking it would be a good idea, but we all know how bad Siri's wrapping was. The pocket knife; that he forgot to close by the way, flew out of the paper, and right across my jaw. Siri went into a full blown panic, and in his haste to help me, he knocked a chair into the fireplace, setting not only it, but the robes on it and the carpet on fire; and slammed straight into me, giving me a broken nose and rather sore groin. We swore to never speak of that day to anyone else, lest Padfoot die of embarrassment."

Feeling an unpleasant itching form in the corner of his eyes, Remus lunged forward, wrapping his bony arms around the shorter man. Twisting his own arm around the thin frame, Harry nestled his head into the other's shoulder, and breathed deeply. It was ok. Remus was alive and believed that he was really there and not some trick the Death Eaters had thrown together. The Avengers would figure out that something was wrong soon, and fly straight over to bust them out.

Glancing over the rag covered shoulder, Harry caught a glimpse of the bracelet still latched onto his wrist, and closed his eyes tightly. Thank Merlin his husband was a paranoid bastard when it came to his 'property'. When he gets out of there, Harry is going to make damn sure that neither of them surface for a good week.


	17. Chapter 17

Vibrant red hair whipped across the PA's face as the SHIELD owned Quinjet touched down on the Tower's personal chopper pad. It had been one of the many strokes Tony gave to his ego, but as she thought over the last hour, Pepper Potts silently thanked the higher deity for her boss's massive self-esteem.

"Miss Potts, you may want to step back."

Shaking her head to rid the memory of the argument that followed the announcement of the helipad, Pepper glanced over her shoulder, and blushed lightly as the sight of the team carrying their duffle bags and weapons came into vision. "Y-yes," she smiled, moving out of the way.

Watching with sharp eyes as each member walked past; each nodding to her as they did so, Pepper shot her arm out just in time to stop the brunette billionaire from following the rest. Waiting until they were half way onto the Quinjet, the red head turned to face her friend, and eyed him carefully. The others may not have seen it, but the announcement of Harry's capture, had aged the man in ways that she hadn't seen since his own return.

"Tony-"

Raising a hand, Tony shushed the red head with a look. He knew that Pepper would see through his mask, but the last thing he needed was for the rest of the team to catch wind of how bad he was handling the news, and waste time trying to force him to stay. Leaning down, scratchy whiskers rubbed against freckled skin as he gently placed a kiss on the woman's cheek.

"I'll be fine," he muttered, tightening his hold on her hand for a brief second, before letting it fall.

Nodding in acceptance, hazel eyes stared up at chocolate brown in vain hope to convey everything that she was thinking. "You bring him back home Tony."

Bowing his head once, the engineer's knuckles whitened as he tightened his hold on the plain black bag hanging off his shoulder. Glancing at his assistant one last time, Tony made his way over to the chunky black plane, and up the stairs.

Watching every move till the brunette was no longer in sight, Pepper stiffened as she felt the suit clad man slid up behind her. "If they don't come home, Coulson, I will bury SHIELD, and every man working for them."

Clasping his SHIELD issued travel bag, Coulson slipped on his customary sun glasses and nodded. "Understood Miss Potts."

Not waiting to see the jet take off, Pepper spun around on her heel and stalked past the Special Agent. She had forms to fill and a company to take care of.

* * *

Gripping a part of his robe that had miraculously stayed somewhat clean since his capture, Harry dabbed his slightly swollen lip, vainly attempting to remove any excess blood before it dried.

"I am really s-"

"If you say that you're sorry one more time, I'll turn you into one of those werewolf stews Siri was always bitching about."

Glancing over at the lanky frame collapsed beside him, Harry raised an eyebrow. After their impromptu wrestling match, the pair had collapsed into a pile of comfort and limbs. The fact the other was still very much alive, despite what they had thought they had known, was still seeping into their minds; and if Harry was completely honest with himself, it probably would be for a long time to come.

Giving his lip up as a dead end job, the brunette dropped his hand down into his lap, and turned to face the blonde. "So how did you get from being dead to here?"

Leaning a thin, rag covered leg up against the younger's warm body, Remus stared up at the roof and shrugged. "When the battle began, I honestly didn't think that I would make it out," he admitted, scratching his stomach absentmindedly. "I was fighting on the West side of the castle, I can't remember much more than blurs. I backed out, and then next thing I now, I was captured by Greyback and a few other Death Eaters-"

_The pain pulsing through his head was like nothing Remus had suffered before. Sure, the transformations were painful, but they were more a dull throb that echoed through his entire body; this was a sharp blister centred squarely at the back of his skull._

_Opening his eyes slowly, the werewolf winced as the sudden light hitting his amber eyes sent another flare of pain through his head. Moaning loudly, the blonde attempted to lift his arm to shield his eyes from the light, but found that it was weighed down by an unknown source. Feeling another heavy weight on his legs, Remus went to glance down to find the source of his lack of movement, but was stopped by the sudden appearance of a very hairy, and yet, familiar face._

_"And the Light Side's bitch is awake!"_

_Jerking at the sudden sight of a very wild looking Fenrir Greyback, Remus endeavoured to glare back at his maker, but from the cackle to older werewolf let out, he knew that it was nothing impressive._

_Smirking down at the mess of a man, Fenrir knelt down beside one of his eldest cubs, and wrapped an arm around him; ignoring the weak struggle the blonde put up. "I once had great expectations for you," the silver haired man quipped, his voice deep and gravely, just like his alter ego. "I took you in the hopes that one day you would take over the Pack and make me proud."_

_Patting the mattered blonde hair absentmindedly, the pair sat there side by side for a moment, before Fenrir quickly rolled over so that he was straddling the younger man. Slapping the Marauder across the face, Fenrir slipped his hands into the man's hair once more, and tugged harshly._

_"You like it like this, don't you slut?" Grounding his hips roughly down into the whimpering blonde's groin, Fenrir lent down and grazed his teeth along the bare_ _flesh that was available to him. "You were a little bitch with your arse in the air, weren't you Lupin? Did you beg them Mudbloods and traitors for more when they grounded you into the dirt?"_

_Feeling the deep seeded anger he had always felt for his Sire bubble to the point of white hot rage, Remus threw his head forward, cracking it against the other's skull with a sickening bang. Howling at the sudden show of rebellion, Fenrir stood abruptly; pulling his leg back and swinging it forward into the soft body below. Stopping only when the tell-tale sound of ribs cracking pierced the dark room, the silver haired man sneered down at the useless weakling._

_"You may have let rot the gift I bestowed upon you," he spat, an angry red mark quickly forming on his forehead. "But do not think for one second that I will let them go to waste. Have fun with your food, Remus. It's the last meal you're going to be having for a while."_

_Watching as the older man stalked his way across the room, dousing the fireplace as he went, Remus waited until he was sure that the other had left, before glancing down at the objects still laying quite still beside him. Feeling his heart break as amber eyes caught sight of curly brown hair, and two soft, child like faces._

_He knew what Fenrir was talking about now, and if he hadn't been out for long, than the moon was due in the next day or so._

"-Every now and then, he would bring in someone I knew," the werewolf sighed, his eyes clouding over in pain. "Fred had been a hard one. Apparently he had charged the Death Eaters after he caught one of them attacking his sister. He was the one that also told me about the others; the Death Eaters had nicked them from the field and squirreled them away here."

Feeling the bile rise in his throat, Harry stared down at his shaking, white knuckles, and gulped. "Do you know how many there are?"

Shaking his head, Remus twirled his knotted hair between his fingers in a way that made Harry wonder just how much of his old packmate was still in there. "Luna was the last one to come in," he mused, still looking at the roof. "That was about three months ago. I think her still chirpy attitude finally got to Rabastian. Fred told me that he had heard the females being attacked from his cell with the males, and I know that they would be pissed if it seemed like she wasn't cracking."

"D-did you-?"

Raising an eyebrow, Remus swirled his eyes around to stare at the brunette, and growled. "Kill her? I had no choice."

Nodding in agreement, Harry swallowed loudly as the strain on the back of his throat threatened to spill his breakfast from the day before. Feeling an arm wind its way around his shoulder, Harry shivered lightly, forcing down the feeling of despair and anger that threatened to take over.

"It's not your fault Harry," the blonde whispered, his amber eyes flashing in self loathing. "I was the one that chomped down on them, and from what you told me, the bastards were fucking clever in covering their tracks. After all, who would think to go looking for a dead man?"

Glancing up at his old friend, the brunette cringed at the look of understanding. "You don't understand, I did nothing after the war-"

Cocking his head slightly, Remus puckered his brows, the question teetering on the tip of his tongue, when the sound to the door creaking open drew his attention away from his cub and towards his captors. Withdrawing his arm from the other, Remus slinked his way back to the shadows, his movements only barely caught by emerald eyes. Turning his face back to the three rather smug looking men standing at the doorway, Harry rose an eyebrow, and smirked. "Did you guys miss me already?"

* * *

The Quinjet was half way across the North Atlantic, when the silent form of Steve Rogers sat down beside the motionless genius and sighed. The fact that Tony had been quiet since entering the jet was disconcerting, and not something that the team needed to face just before going in to a mission. Drawing on the compassion and determination his mother had drilled into him, Steve turned to face the brunette, and opened his mouth.

"Don't"

Deflating slightly, blue eyes glanced to his new companion? Boyfriend? Partner? To help him out, but was only met with a slight nod and smirk at his situation. Rolling his eyes, Steve turned back to the billionaire, and frowned. "Tony-"

Snapping around to face the Super Soldier, Tony pierced the blonde with a cold stare, and huffed. "My husband is currently in hostile territory with captors that posses stuff that none of us never gone up against. Even if we do save him, my marriage is on the rocks because I can't keep it in my pants; I have two team mates that are ready to kill me over that, another that is looking for the next opportunity to dodge Harlem because of it; and to top it all off, I find out that a man that I killed nearly three years ago, sold me out and gave the government one of the most frightening weapons I have ever designed. So please, tell me Captain Perfect, what could you possibly say that can make me feel any better than I do right now?"

Gaping at the fuming brunette, Steve felt like a total idiot. He had honestly only been focusing on the newest development and how Tony was handling it, but the fact that there was a lot more still happening in the background had never passed the Soldier's mind. Watching as the engineer nodded after a moment and returned to the codes displayed across his Starkpad, Steve glanced over at the rest of the team and breathed deeply.

From the faces that he could see, he could tell that he wasn't the only one that had forgotten about the other problems currently suffocating the genius. Thor stared at the brunette worryingly, whilst Bruce kept his head down, only letting his eyes flicker over when he thought no-one was looking. Coulson was keeping his hand on the hilt of his taser just in case the brunette decided to do something, but Steve could tell from the way he his shoulders slopped slightly, and the thin line forming on his brow, that the Agent was worried. Clint and Natasha were up front, but the Captain knew that they would have heard every word; and from what the genius had just divulged, he hoped that they loosened up on him a bit. The man was under enough stress as it was, he didn't need to handle fellow members with potential death threats toward himself.

He could feel the migraine start to kick in.

Not having experienced one in years, Tony was surprised and slightly pissed. He had no right to be sick, not until his husband was safe and the fucktards that took him were dealt with. Staring down at the useless encryption that had no reason to be in his hands except to act as that of a distraction, Tony forced the migraine out of sound, and out of mind.

_"Agent Coulson?"_

Whiping his head around faster than he probably should have, Tony stared up at the looming face of Director Fury, as the little screen on the wall came to life. Listening to the two agents talk for a second, Tony quickly lost interest and turned back to his pad. Maybe if he added a new statement and the end of that method...

"Tony?"

Humming, Tony swept hisfinger across the screen, before glancing back up. Staring worryingly at the genius, Coulson stepped aside so the brunette had a clear view of the screen. "SHIELD just received this video. Director Fury thinks that we should know what we're going into."

Watching as the screen clicked over from the now empty space Fury was standing in, to a cave wall that looked almost too familiar for the brunette to be happy with. Six men crowded the screen; one of them sitting on the only chair visible with a hessian bag over his face. Tony instantly knew who it was under there, and couldn't stop the sob from being ripped from his throat.

"Harry?"

Two of the men off to the side held guns with the Stark Industries logo on their side, whilst another two held what Tony could only assume were wands. The last person he caught sight of, was one that he had hoped died in the massacre nearly three years ago.

Foaming at the mouth, Tony missed the startled glances he received from the others, as he snarled viciously. "Raza!"

Smirking at the camera, Raza stepped forward and placed his hands on either side of the chair, making Tony fume even more. _"This is a message to all the people at SHIELD and to Mr Tony Stark. We are currently in possession of someone that you hold in high regard, Stark in particular. This will be your only chance to retrieve him; hand over the arc technology and Tony Stark in the next twenty-four hours, and we will let Harry Potter go. Fail to do so, and we will feed him to the ravenous beast locked in his cell. There will be no sudden escape plans or new suits to design Mr Stark, only your surrender and your husband's safety."_

Watching as the bastard lifted the sack to reveal a bloody and beaten Harry, Tony screamed out in rage. How dare that monster do this to his husband! The moment he gets his hands on that son of a bitch, Tony is going to make him rue the day he ever made that stupid deal with Obadiah Staine!

Grinning widely, Raza motioned for the two men holding guns to help the wizard to his feet and place him near a container that Tony knew only too well. _"And o make sure that you understand that I mean business-"_

The laughing and jeering of his husband's captors was only muffled by the screams that tore through Tony's throat as the brunette's head was pushed violently under water. Stopping the video before it could go any further, Coulson along with the rest of the team eyed the red faced engineer, and waited for him to speak.

Not taking his eyes away from the stilled image of his love's head being pushed back into the ice cold water whilst other's jeered, Tony pulled himself to his full height, and growled in a way that made even Natasha shiver in fear.

"When we get there, Raza is mine. When we get there, I'm going to tear them all a fucking apart! And if anyone stands in my way, I will take them out!"


	18. Chapter 18

_The laughing and jeering of his husband's captors was only muffled by the screams that tore through Tony's throat as the brunette's head was pushed violently under water. Stopping the video before it could go any further, Coulson along with the rest of the team eyed the red faced engineer, and waited for him to speak._

_Not taking his eyes away from the stilled image of his love's head being pushed back into the ice cold water whilst other's jeered, Tony pulled himself to his full height, and growled in a way that made even Natasha shiver in fear._

_"When we get there, Raza is mine. When we get there, I'm going to tear them all a fucking apart! And if anyone stands in my way, I will take them out!"_

* * *

Chills ran down the wizard's back as he was dumped on the cold merciless ground once more. The time spent with the tub had been less than what he believed, but as the still icy water ran across his skin, Harry felt that he had a right to be confused. Clamping his jaw shut in a vain attempt to stop his teeth from chattering, the emerald eyed wizard forced himself to sit up, causing every muscle in his body to scream in protest.

The muggle form of torture had been very lacking for his wizard captors, and after an hour of drowning, Rabastian had finally let loose with a string of overly imaginative spells and curses. Taking a great deal of interest in certain spells, Raza had requested that the bastard repeat a few of the more difficult to deal with, and hold them for longer when possible. LeStrange had been only too happy to comply.

Glancing down at the cut across the inside of his thigh that was sluggishly bleeding, Harry dragged himself across the floor so that he could lean against the wall, and moaned. He would need to wrap up the wound if he wanted to not bleed out by morn. Turning to take in his surroundings, emerald eyes frowned as they took in the smaller, drier room he now found himself in.

"Huh."

Hoping that the change in accommodation didn't mean that they were planning to do anything to the ageing Marauder; pale hands tore at the hem of his robe, shredding the material to the point that there were several strips of impromptu bandages. Quickly wrapping one around his wound, the brunette shoved the rest into his pocket, and sighed.

This was not the way he had envisioned the mission going down...

* * *

Landing gracefully on the tar mat, Natasha killed the engines, and pulled the latch that would open the back of the jet. It had been a long and worrying flight; one that she never wanted to repeat again.

Shaking off the memory of Harry drowning whilst his captor's laughed, the red head flicked off the last switch, before grabbing her SHIELD supplied duffle bag, and following the others out of the plane. The easy part was over, now came the fun part. "Where do we go from here?"

Glancing around the abandoned piece of airstrip, Clint shrugged. "I don't see any transport in the local vicinity."

Rolling his eyes at the plebeians, Tony hitched his shoulder strap up a little higher, before making for a little run down shed half a mile away from where they landed. Not sure what the man was doing, but not wanting to split up, Steve motioned for them all to follow; only moving when he was sure that the others were.

Half way to the shed, Coulson decided to voice his worries; not at all liking the lack of people or communication devices in the area. "Is there a reason that you decided to walk this way Mr Stark? Or is this just a hunch."

Not bothering to talk, let alone, glance over his shoulder at the man, Tony continued his pace until he came to the termite ridden shed. Flinging the door open, the billionaire stalked into the musty smelling room, and dumped his bag on the counter. "This was one of my Dad's private airstrips," he muttered, not bothering to look at the others as he rifled through his bag for an assortment of items. "He gave it and a few others to the Allies during the war so that they could shift people and weapons in and out of the country without the Axis finding out. When the war was over, he took control of them back, and when I took over, I preferred to have them as a safe guard in case I ever needed to enter a country without alerting the officials, so I made everyone forget about them by using public airstrips and other means of transport."

Dumping a Starkpad, several rolled up pieces of paper and a length of rope on the bench, Tony waved Thor away as he tried to get a closer look at the items. Glancing around the room as the brunette started up his tech, Steve caught sight of a dust covered frame tucked away in a corner, and frowned. Making his way over to it, the soldier gently placed his bag on the floor, before pulling the frame off the wall and blowing hard.

Not sure what to expect, Steve was surprised when the sight of his old team huddled in front of that silly aircraft Howard used to own, met his gaze. It was one of the few times they had all been in the same area, and Bucky had demanded a photo to mark the day. Glancing down at the smiling faces of his old friends, Steve smiled sadly as he took in the way everyone was grouped in together. Peggy the only one standing straight and tall, whilst Howard blatantly placed a kiss on a laughing Bucky's cheek. Steve stared down at himself, smiling brightly even as his men piled on top of him in an odd looking scrimmage.

"You can have the photo if you want, but I need you in Leader mode right now; not lethargic, soppy eyed mode. Ok?"

Startling at the engineer's voice, Steve glanced over at the man, blushing lightly at being caught. Tucking the frame quickly into his bag, the blonde quickly made his way over to rest, and stared down at the cluttered table. "What are you doing?"

Pulling a pen out from where he had placed it in his mouth, the engineer double checked something on his pad, before marking it down on what appeared to be a map. "I'm scouting."

Glancing down at what the man had already put together, Clint whistled lowly. "Are you sure that you're not part spy, Stark? This is better than most SHIELD agent's tracking skills, and they're actually at the destination, not a million miles away from it."

Nodding in agreement, Coulson made to pick up a sheet, but was stopped when a heavy hand landed on the table. Raising an eyebrow, the agent eyed the brunette, waiting for him to say something, but let it go when he realised that it was just a case of needing everything where it was in order to work.

Taking a peek at the information for herself, Natasha felt her admiration for the arrogant man go up another notch, but chose not to mention it. His ego was inflated enough as it was, he didn't need it blown up any further. "Why are you doing this now?" she asked, still glancing over the scraps of information. "Why not wait until we reach the next safe point?"

Scribbling something down on the main map, Tony waited until it was all down, before turning to face the woman. "Because the next safe point is at the centre of a magical influx," he replied, eyeing the red head as he did so. "And once we reach there, we will basically be in the dark for the rest of the mission, when it comes to technology."

This was not what the group wanted to hear.

Least of all Natasha and Coulson.

Holding his hand up to silence any oncoming objections, Tony turned back to his bag and fished out three black boxes, and placed them gently on the table before turning back to the group. "When Harry and I first started dating, I didn't know why at the time, but every time I tried to show off my toys, there would be a fiery explosion, and anything running off power in my lab would die a fantastic death. I later found out that it was because his magic was interfering with it; like two negatively charged magnets."

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes as only half of his audience nodded in understanding, Tony ploughed on. "I was able to fix most of my lab so that he can now go in there and not start a fire, but since the place we are now heading to is filled with a lot more magic than just one, admiringly powerful wizard, we need to bring this operation back down to just the basics."

Grabbing hold of the first box, the engineer glanced at what it was, before tossing it over to the red head, and grabbing another. "I noticed that your wrist shocker didn't last very long during the last battle, so I upped the voltage. Do not electrocute yourself! I've also used the same metal that my lab's currently coated in, so it should work for at least an hour before the strain becomes too much and it dies out."

Nodding in thanks, Natasha quickly swapped it over for her old ones, placing them in her bag for safe keeping. Tossing the next one to the Special Agent, Tony pointed a finger at the man, and glared. "I made that phone for Harry when we were first dating. He has a new one now, but he still likes to keep that one around, so if you break it, I will break you. Kapiesh?"

Bowing his head once, Coulson quickly pulled the device out and entered any numbers he may need from his old phone. The last thing he wanted was to be caught in a sticky situation, and not have a chance to call backup. Glancing at the last box, Clint pointed to it, and grinned. "So what's in that? New magic proof arrows for my quiver?"

"No, that was already taken care of last month."

Ignoring the indignant look the archer sent him, Tony opened the last box, and handed out his new and improved ear pieces. Not bothering to give Bruce one for reasons known, Tony held up his own, and showed it to the team. "This is the new Stark approved com devices. As long as you don't get a direct hit of powerful magic, or go near a powerful artefact, they should work."

Admiring the ingenuity of the device, Steve tucked his into his pocket, before pointing to the maps. "This is your operation Stark. How are we playing this?"

Whirling back around to face the table, the brunette shifted them around so that everyone could see, before pointing to a red dot marked almost in the dead centre of Scotland. "This is where Jarvis last picked up the trace for Harry's tracker, and it's only a few miles from where the Minister said the team was sent to. There's a cave system in that area, so that's what we're aiming for-"

"Why, surely these Midguardians would have fortresses and towers to defend themselves?"

Glancing over at the Asguardian, Tony turned back to the map and glared deeply. "Raza is one of the leaders of the Ten Rings. He was also the man that made that deal with Obadiah and set out to kill me. He and his men are desert people by nature, they use their surroundings to hide and attack. Trust me, they're going to be in the caves."

Patting the confused blonde on the shoulder in sympathy, Bruce motioned for the billionaire to continue.

Shaking off the memories of dark spaces and icy water, Tony pulled himself back together, and pointed back at the section of the country. "We are to meet with Shaklebolt, and from there, receive a new portkey to the edge of the forest here. Because I can't use the suit in such a magically saturated place, we will not be using force to enter. This is to be a stealth operation; they are not to know we are there, until we have Harry, understood?"

Nodding in agreement, the team huddled in closer as the brunette continued to explain the plan. Failure was not an option, and in a mission like this...

...anything could go wrong.

* * *

Air fled back into his lungs as his head was removed from its watery grave once more. Gasping greedily, Emerald eyes watered in pain as the freezing liquid made its home inside his chest; swirling around dangerously with each breath.

"I'm impressed Mr Potter."

Looking up to catch sight of the muggle daring to use him as bait, Harry glared feebly. Seeing the glare for all its worth, Raza smirked widely. His teeth flashing like a tiger's, ready to pounce.

"Your husband could hold his breath for five minutes before we broke his ribs. Care to see if you can beat him?"

Knowing that it was futile, but still needing to show his independence of the situation, Harry pulled back his head and spat dispassionately on the man. Grinning madly, Emerald eyes barely caught a look of revulsion and wrath, before he found himself facing the bottom of the tub once more.

They would stop soon.

He knew they would.

He had not been there for very long, but the idiots keeping him hostage had already fallen into a routine, and if Harry's pain filled mind was honest with itself, it was a rather dull one. The first time they had started in on the torture, had been a shock to the system as it had been so long since he had been in such a position. But as the men continued to throw hexes at him, and dunk his head in water, the wizard found himself asking, 'is that it? Is that all you remember from the old days LeStrange?'.

Coughing loudly as his head resurfaced once more, Harry waited for the next dumbass question from his captor.

"Put him on the bench."

Feeling his body shifting across the muddy ground, Harry caught sight of a pouting Raza, and rather excited looking Rabastian.

"Did you finally decide to come and play LeStrange?" he called out. His body being lifted from the ground, and tied to the bench as he did so. "So what horrors have you got for me this time? A Cheering Charm?"

Chuckling darkly at the jab, Rabastian made his way over to the bound man, and lent down over him. "I was only making sure that you haven't gone soft," he whispered, running an overgrown nail down the brunette's cheek. "Now we're going to have some real fun."

* * *

The air was tense as the Minister of Magic stared down at his pocket watch for what felt like the umpteenth time. Glancing up her boss, a petite dark haired woman smiled amusedly as she caught the action. It was a nervous tick that the man had gained over the years, and if it wasn't for the fact that the situation was so serious, she would have pointed it out ages ago.

"They said that they'd be here by now."

Placing a cup down beside the frazzled man, Martha poured some tea into the cup, before pouring her own and sitting back down. "They will be here when they get here," she quipped, taking a sip from her own cup. "Until then you can't do much else. So quit squirming, and drink your tea."

Slumping in defeat, Kingsley nodded absentmindedly, and picked up his cup.

"I think I'm going to throw up."

"Who the hell thought this was a good idea for transport?!"

"You puke on me Barton, and I'll find a new place for you to store your quiver."

"Stark get off me!"

"Is it just me, or is the world spinning really fast?"

Jumping out of his seat, Kingsley spun around to face the group of people that just appeared in his room, and pointed his wand at the assembled group. He knew that the only people that could currently enter the room was the team he sent for, but after the night he had just had, and the day that wasn't fairing up much better, he felt that he deserved to be a little jumpy.

Glancing up at the dark skinned man currently pointing a wand at them, Tony slowly rolled himself off a disgruntled Steve, and smiled widely. "I will never get sick of portkeys."


	19. Chapter 19

**Very quickly, a big thanks with lots of cookies to everyone that has been reading and reviewing for this story! You have all brought a smile to my uni stressed face, so once again, thank you! Now, whilst this story is about another 2/3 chapters off finishing, please note, that it is not the end of the series! :) I have much more yet to come, from romance, to drama, with a hell of a lot of action. So strap yourselves in and enjoy the ride, cause trust me, this thing has only just started ;)**

**Now, on to the Show!**

* * *

'Now this is more like it.'

Feeling blood trickle down his chin as the teeth marks in his bottom lip grew deeper, Harry moaned out in agony as the smouldering hot iron dug itself into his side once more. Pushing down the edges of darkness that had been threatening to spill over for the last hour, the brunette waited for the pressure to ease back, before opening his eyes. The only other person still in the room besides LeStrange and himself, was Raza; and if Harry didn't know any better, he could have sworn that the bastard was getting off on all of this. Keeping his gaze on the bald man eyeing the scene like a hawk, Harry stretched his lips wide over blood coated teeth in a demented smile. "You getting your kicks there honey, or does Rabastian here need to up his game?"

Not liking the still coherent rasps coming from the tied up man, LeStrange tightened his hold on the glowing poker, and smacked it across the brunette's face. Not expecting the amount of pain that came with the blow, Harry yelped loudly, before grabbing his bottom lip once more in a fit to keep his cries of pain silenced.

They had been going at this for much too long now, and Harry knew that something had to give. The frustration on his torture's face was becoming all too clear, and if the wizard didn't break soon, than who knew what Rabastian would turn to in order to get his own off. Breath hitching as the man returned to his sensitive finger tips, and the bamboo shoots nailed into them, Harry gave himself one last moment of defiance as the pliers clutched down on the blood soaked wood.

"AGHHHHHHHHHH!"

* * *

The trip to the Minister was short.

Quickly gaining the precious little information the man had gathered, the team quickly set off on yet another portkey, only to find themselves in the heart of a very old and thick forest. Their senses flared as the soft breeze flittered through the leaves, and not even the sound of a startled bird met their ears. Glancing around, the SHIELD agents, Steve and Thor eyed the dark abyss warily, as Tony and Bruce poured over the map.

"It's too quiet," Natasha whispered, her eyes darting around like an alarmed deer.

Nodding in agreement, Clint could see farther than any of his team mates without aid, but as the mist rolled around their heels, and what little light they had died before hitting even the first tree, even he could admit that there was much more to the forest than what they first thought.

"It is Old Magic," Thor muttered, his voice lowered to levels the others had never thought possible for the Norse God. Knuckles whitening against the hold he had on Mjolnir, the blonde gazed from tree to tree, never letting up his stance. "We have such a forest in Asguard. It is the home of many fierce beasts; including the great wolf Fenrir. None dare touch the forest lest the magic turns on them; it is not a fate I would wish even my most evil of foe."

Feeling the hairs on the back of their neck stand on edge at the God's words, the team eyed the unknown with even greater worry. Shifting on his heels, Steve leant over his shoulder to call out to the two men hovelled on the ground; never once taking his eyes away from the spot in front of him. "Do you know where we're going yet?"

Quickly double checking the map one last time, scarred fingers folded up the paper and shoved it back into the bag.

"If what Kingsley said, the cave's entrance will be a miles hike that way." Pointing off to their left, Tony slung the back pack onto his back once more and turned to face the group. The last forty-eight was starting to weigh down on him, but like hell he was going to stop now. Ignoring the ill gotten vibe the forest was throwing their way, the engineer eyed each member of his team, before pointing at the way they had to go. "Forget everything that has happened personally in the last couple of days. One of our members is currently being held hostage by a terrorist organization. He has fought with us, bled with us, and at one point, even brought back one of our own. This is our chance to return that sentiment, and show these fuckers just what it means to take one of ours. Cause if they thought we wouldn't retaliate, they were dead fucking wrong. We are the Avengers, and if they pick a fight with one of us, they get the fucking lot!"

* * *

The night air was freezing against the desert burnt skin. Burying his head deeper into the fur coat each member of the UK branch had been graced with, the stocky young man glanced out into the night sky, wondering why they even had to be out there. From what the magic wielders had told them, no-one knew the caves were out here; and even if they did, it was impossible to get to with the mountain line on one side and cliff ridge on the other.

"_You think too much."_

Glancing over at the cave's entrance, the man raised an eyebrow as another, slightly taller man shuffled his way over; two steaming mugs at hand. _"And thinking is bad?"_

Handing over the second mug, the taller man grinned; his three missing teeth shown to all. _"It gives you wrinkles."_

Laughing at the statement, the younger man lent his rifle against the cave wall and took a seat beside the fire. _"The new one is a screamer,"_ he muttered, wrapping his chilled fingers around the mug._ "I can hear him from fifty paces in."_

Nodding in agreement, the taller guard followed the other's lead, and held his hands out to the fire. _"The other's think that LeStrange may have lost his touch. It took over an hour to get the man to scream."_

Chuckling at the new piece of information, the younger man sat his cup down beside him, and glanced over to his partner. _"Hey do you think-"_

The almost silent whistles of two arrows leaving their place on the archer's bow; one straight after the other, stopped the question before it could even be formed. Slouching over, the younger guard caught sight of his partner in the same position; only with an arrow cemented into his skull, before succumbing to the dark abyss his own arrow was offering.

* * *

Sliding through the darkness in absolute silence, Natasha, and Coulson made quick work of dispatching any stray men they came across. Thor, Tony and Bruce followed behind at a safe pace, with Steve and Clint taking up the tail just in case any appeared out of nowhere. Until they actually found Harry, and had him in their grasp, the plan was to be as quiet and stealthy as possible. The last thing they needed was for some idiot to set off the alarm, and the Hulk to appear before it was time.

Snapping yet another neck, Natasha flicked her hair out of her face, before glancing over to her handler and smirking. Many people; including SHIELD operatives, thought the man to be a boring and rule abiding pencil pusher. What none of them saw, was the graceful, skilled fighter that could kill a person in five different ways before they even hit the ground.

Pulling his fingers back from the pressure point in his opponent's neck, Phil scanned the area for any further threats, before giving the hidden group the all clear, and moving forward. Steel capped boots and Agent issued formals stalked down the narrow tunnels silently, scuffling against the dirt and mud every now and then as they came across stray opponents.

"Tony," Natasha called out, eyeing the newest obstacle in front of them. "You wouldn't happen to know which way to go?"

Moving forward, the team stood as one and stared at the fork in cave system. Glancing down each tunnel, Tony thought of each possibility, but came up with nothing. "I don't know."

Not liking the idea, but seeing as it may be their only choice, Steve pipped up. "Maybe we should split up?"

Dropping the medical bag he had brought with just in case, Bruce stepped forward to examine each tunnel, and shook his head. "Splitting up will only cause dramas later; and besides, there's no point. We need to go down the left one."

Raising an eyebrow, Coulson eyed the meek doctor. "And how would you know Dr Banner? All three tunnels have signs of being used recently."

Picking back up the bag and placing it securely on his shoulders, Bruce glanced up at his team members and grinned. His usual murky brown eyes glowing acid green in the darkness.

"Because I can smell them."

* * *

Warm light crept into the most recent tunnel the team had found themselves in. Edging closer to the opening, Coulson peered out into the cavern, before shuffling back to the rest of the group and crouching down. "They're down there."

Nodding, Tony opened his bag up, and pulled out a multitude of weapons and ammo. "Ok, from what we saw in the video, and what we know of Raza, they'll be keeping Harry in a tunnel connected to the main hub. It will be discrete, and blend into the walls, so keep an eye out for it."

Picking up a pistol and making sure that there was enough ammo latched in, Coulson pocketed two more cartridges, before glancing up at the billionaire. "What about the men?"

Pointing over to his silent Science bro, Tony grinned. "Bruce is the distraction. There's going to be a shit load of Stark weapons down there, and he's going to blow them up. I've got enough C-4 in this bag to make a decent sized crater, so be careful."

Taking the offered bag, Bruce nodded once, before flinging the strap over his shoulder, and making his way towards the tunnel's opening. Turning back to the rest of the team, Tony grabbed his own line of weaponry, before pointing at the archer. "Find a good spot near the ridge, and keep them bastards off our tails."

Saluting, Clint tightened his grip on his bow, and disappeared into the shadows. Standing slowly from his spot on the ground, Tony motioned for the rest to do the same, and made his way to the edge of the tunnel's mouth. There were at least thirty men scattered in the cavern, and Tony was willing to bet his collection of hot rods, that there were many more hidden away. Calculating the best way down into the bowl shaped room without being spotted, the engineer almost missed the warm hand land on his shoulder, and the deep tone that quickly followed.

"Are you sure you can do this?"

Glancing over shoulder, Tony looked up at the blonde soldier, and raised an eyebrow. "If I didn't think that I could do it, do you think that I would be here?"

Puckering his brow, Steve stared down at the brunette, and sighed. "You don't have your suit, Tony. You could be severely injured or worse."

"The Captain is right," Thor muttered, his strong tone rumbling like the thunder clouds he controlled. "Perhaps you should stay here, whilst we retrieve Harry?"

Shrugging the hand off, Tony whipped around to face his team, and glared. "My husband is currently being held hostage by a mess I thought that I cleaned up years ago. Suit or no suit, I will not let Raza take him from me again. Now, you can either come with me, or stay up here and keep watch, but I am going in there, and I will get my husband back."

Noting the tense muscles and stern expression on the billionaire's face as he gripped the semi-automatic tightly, each of the team slowly nodded in agreement; Steve being the last. Loosening up as the others fell into submission, Tony rounded back to the tunnel's entrance, just in time to see a large ball of fire appear above a massive stack of crates. Ignoring the men screaming around in panic, Tony motioned for the others to follow as he slid down the cavern's wall.

It was time to finish this once and for all.

* * *

His throat was scratched and sore, letting nothing more than a gurgled moan out as the last of his toe nails were forcibly removed from his skin. His pain numbed mind knew that over the years he had suffered through worse, but as he glanced down at the smirking face of his torturer, Harry couldn't help but praise the man on his technique. The lack of spells had given the whole session a much more personal touch, and despite the amount of pain his body was experiencing, there wasn't that many marks on his body; and defiantly none that were life threatening.

Whimpering as salt found its way into the newest line of wounds, Harry wished that he could at least go into shock like a normal person. Pushing past the pain, the wizard glanced down at the man squatting by his feet, and smirked.

"They will come for me," he rasped, the teasing tone lost under the dribble of blood mixed saliva. "They will come, and you will die."

Chuckling, Rabastian stood up slowly, and reached to tug on the metal collar biting viciously into the brunette's neck. "Why do you think we have you here?" he smirked. "Of course Stark will come. And when he does, I will sit him in front of you, and make him watch as I shred the very skin of your body. As I tear into your chest, and rip out your very heart. You are the reason my world has crumbled, oh Great Saviour, and I am going to bask in the glow as I watch yours do the same."

Glancing up as the room shook violently, emerald eyes twinkled brightly, as a man flew into the room, screaming in words Harry couldn't understand. "Well here's your chance to make good on that threat, LeStrange. They're here."

* * *

The idea to keep to the shadows and search whilst the terrorists raced around like chooks with their heads cut off, quickly died when one such headless chook caught sight of Thor's brilliantly red cape, and alerted the others. Smashing his hammer the man's jaw, Thor turned to face the next man creeping up on him, just in time to catch sight of a blue and red blur fly past and knock out the opponent.

"Go!" Steve yelled out, making his way to the Norse God's side. "We've got this!"

Not bothering to watch the others leave, Steve and Thor raised their weapons in preparation for the next onslaught. Clicking his com on to an open line, Steve motioned for Thor to do the same. "Hawkeye, we need a visual on Banner."

Knocking his shield up against a man charging wildly towards him, Steve waited for the archer to reply, but realised that he didn't need it, as a stack of crates fifty paces to their left, exploded in a rage of fiery power.

"_Six o'clock, Cap. And heads up, you've got another going off at seven."_

Latching onto the taller blonde, Steve dragged them out of the blast range, just in time to see the crates behind them go up in flames. Sending Mjolnir off into a crowd trying to save the weapons, Thor glanced over at the Captain, and grinned. "This is like child's play," he boomed, the grin almost becoming contagious. "Come SHIELD brother; let us see who can defeat the most foes."

Lifting his shield a little higher, Steve shook his head in amusement. "Fine; but no lightening!"

* * *

Jiggling the lock on the door in frustration, Tony moved just in time to miss the bullet Coulson sent towards the door. Glaring at the agent, the billionaire waited for the other two to walk into latest mystery room, before following them. So far they had found two storage rooms and a very scary cook that Natasha had made quick work out of, before finally arriving to this door.

Taking in the mouldy walls and damp floor, the brunette almost missed it when a section of the floor in the corner shifted ever so slightly. Doing a double take, chocolate brown eyes widened in surprise as what he mistakenly took for as a raised mound of dirt, grew mattered hair, multiple limbs, and several eyes; all pointing towards them.

"Oye," Natasha muttered, her skin paling at the sight.

Pocketing the pistol in his hands, Tony got down low to the ground, and crept forward slowly. "Hello, we're here to help."

Eyeing the brunette wearily, the mass of what Tony could clearly see was women and young girls, silently communicated with each other, before letting one of the elder girls detangle from there knot and crawl towards them. Once upon a time, Tony would have said that she was beautiful, with honey brown eyes and straight ginger hair; but the years of malnutrition and dark spaces had left a hollow shell of a woman.

"You're American," she rasped, the fact that she may have not used her voice in years atoning to the fact.

Nodding, Tony shuffled a little bit closer, but stopped when the rest of the women shined back, shrieking in fear. "I'm not going to hurt you. We came to rescue my husband," he admitted, holding his hands up in surrender. "Do you know where we can find him?"

Staring up at the brunette, the woman's hazel eyes flashed with a sense of determination, before fading back into the dullness they first saw. "The one that screams so prettily," she hummed, twirling her hair in between her fingers. "They don't let us out unless they want to play. They took our moon, and our pretty sun. We are lost without them."

Glancing from the muttering woman in front of him, to the fear filled women behind, Tony took a second to think it through, before nodding briefly to himself. "Ok," he muttered. "Let's get you out of here."

Stepping lightly, Coulson made his way over to the brunette, and placed his hand on the man's shoulder. "Stark, I don't think that's possible."

Rounding on the Agent, Tony glared darkly and prepared himself to yell and shout at the man who would even suggest such a thing. "If you think I'm going to leave them behind-?"

Lowering her gun, Natasha kept her eyes on the wisps before her, and hissed. "Tony, look at them."

The order sounded ridiculous in the genius's mind. He had seen the poor things the moment he had stepped into the room, why would looking at them again change his mind? Knowing that the red head would not leave it be until he did so, Tony bowed to her wishes, and turned to face the scared creatures once more.

Staring upon the frightened faces, chocolate brown eyes soon found themselves wandering lower; taking in the full picture painted before him.

"Oh dear god."

Holding up her arm, the woman closest to him held out the stump where a hand used to be, and leaned forward to caress his face with it. "I miss the moon and sun. Will you take me to them?"

Lurching back, Tony quailed in fright and sadness as he took in every person lying in the pile. Some were lucky and seemed to be missing only a hand or foot, others less so with entire limbs missing. One of the older women in the centre of the group seemed to be the least lucky of the lot; using her fellow cell mates to hold her head and torso up as she had nether arms or legs to do so herself.

Scars of cuts and chemical burns littered any skin that the poor souls may have left, and as the billionaire took in a little girl no older than twelve, holding her face so that he couldn't see her melted skin, Tony knew that they had no chance of helping them.

Swallowing back down the bile threatening to spill from his lips, Tony stood from his spot on the floor, and grabbed his gun once more. "I am so sorry," he whispered, pushing down the tears that threatened to spill. "I am so sorry that you went through this."

Turning to ask Coulson what they should do, Tony caught sight of the door opening just in time.

"_They have found the whores!"_

Whirling around in a move no-one ever would have thought callable, Natasha shot the first man dead in the eye, before grabbing the second and tossing him into the room. Seeing the hungry stares in the women's eyes, Coulson hooked Tony by the elbow and made his way out of the room; Natasha quickly following behind. Slamming door shut, the red head wedged a block of wood under the blasted thing, and made to stand beside her handler. The hallway echoed with the sounds of the man screaming as the tortured victims tore him apart with their bare hands.

"There was nothing we could do," she muttered, patting the billionaire's back as he threw up the contents of his stomach.

Giving it a few minutes, Tony wiped away the excess from his lips before turning to the other pair, and nodding. "Let's keep moving."

* * *

Clint gazed down upon the fire lit room as he readied his bow for yet another shot. The red and blue of Thor and Steve flickered in and out between the fanfare of yelling terrorists and exploding cargo. Sparing a quick glance at the doctor as he set off yet another charge, the archer changed the course of his arrow at the last second, and watched with mild fascination as the henchman sneaking up behind the brunette fell to the ground; dead before he even landed.

"That's the third one that's found the doc, Cap. You might wanna tell him that it's a good time to get angry."

Sending two more charged arrow heads off into the forever shifting crowd, Clint searched out his team members once more, before receiving a reply from the Star Spangled Man.

"Copy that Hawkeye. Where is he now?"

Blue eyes shifting immediately to the shorter man huddling behind a still intact jeep, Clint let out a snort as he caught the look of bafflement on the henchman's face as he looked down at the man. "He's behind the jeep to your left," he quipped, sending yet another arrow to the henchman before he could raise his gun. "Hurry Spangles, that's four now."

* * *

Bruce knew that he had been found multiple times now; the hairs on the back of his neck standing on edge each time. But after turning around the first time and seeing an arrow sticking out of the would be assailant's neck, the scientist found little reason to turn just yet.

Placing the next lot of C-4 under the large cargos truck that the man was baffled as to how they got in, Bruce set the timer to thirty seconds, before glancing around, and running over to the next point of hiding. Squatting down, the brunette turned to face the truck just in time to catch the whole thing reach for the sky in a flash of orange and crimson red. A mildly interesting line of thought made its way into his head as he stared at the destruction he, Bruce Banner, had made, but the man quickly shook it off. He needed to be completely in the game for this one, and that meant to contemplating the 'what if's'.

"Banner!"

Pivoting on the sole of his boots, Bruce glanced up at the Super Soldier, and grinned weakly. "Hey Cap, shouldn't you be out there with Thor?"

Crouching down beside the doctor, Steve glanced out over the scene and took the chance to catch his breath. "Hawkeye wanted me to pass on a message."

Raising an eyebrow, Bruce motioned for the man to continue.

"I don't know if you realize," the blonde spoke. "But you've been spotted four times now. Hawkeye's keeping an eye out, but now might be a good time to bring in the other guy."

Tightening the clutch on his back pack, Bruce peered out at the scene surrounding them, and frowned. "I did know, and tell Barton thanks, but I've got one last stop before I can switch over."

Glancing over to where the brunette was staring, Steve took in the last target, and grinned. "Alright," he accepted. "Let's get you over there."

* * *

The shock of the room had still yet to wear off the trio as they continued to make their way down the tunnel. Smashing open locked doors as they walked past, nothing really stood out until they hit the fifth one on the right, and promptly walked back out. The room had obviously once been used as a torture room, and between the stench of old blood and fesses, and the sheet covered tables rowed up along the far wall, the group quickly came to the conclusion that this room was transferred into a morgue a long time ago.

Not sure how much of this he could take, Tony backed his way out of the room; grasping onto the wall in an attempt to stay standing. "I'm never watching another horror after this."

Not gracing the man with an answer, Natasha walked past like she had seen nothing more than an office, and made her way to the next door. Following the red head, Coulson was surprised when he felt a hand latch onto his elbow, and turn him around. Glancing down at the green gilled engineer, the Agent raised an eyebrow. "Yes Stark?"

"How are you two doing it?" the genius asked, his chocolate brown eyes filled with pain and horror. "All this is- a horror film come to life, and you and Miss Spy over there have barely battered an eyelid."

Feeling a rare streak of compassion towards the man, Coulson hooked his arm around the billionaire, and helped him stand once more. "We are trained for situations like this," he muttered, eyeing the corridor as they continued down to the latest room the assassin had disappeared into. "Romanoff has been in doing this since she first started walking, and all SHIELD Agents are required to be able to keep a level head when in the field at all times."

Catching up with the Black Widow, Tony finally found his feet again. Patting the Agent on the back in thanks, the brunette slipped out of his hold, and headed towards the woman standing stiffly in the middle of the room. Her gun pointed stiffly at the farthest corner. "What's wrong?"

Eyes narrowing, Natasha watched as the figure shifted in the darkness, and let out a low growl. "There's something else in here."

Frowning, Tony turned back to the corner, and squinted his eyes in hopes of distilling the darkness. "I don't see anyt-"

The rest of the words died on his lips, as two swirling amber eyes; the size of his scotch glasses, came into sight. Glaring at the trio with a hunger they had never seen before.

"Oh shit."


	20. Chapter 20

_Catching up with the Black Widow, Tony finally found his feet again. Patting the Agent on the back in thanks, the brunette slipped out of his hold, and headed towards the woman standing stiffly in the middle of the room. Her gun pointed stiffly at the farthest corner. "What's wrong?"_

_Eyes narrowing, Natasha watched as the figure shifted in the darkness, and let out a low growl. "There's something else in here."_

_Frowning, Tony turned back to the corner, and squinted his eyes in hopes of distilling the darkness. "I don't see anyt-"_

_The rest of the words died on his lips, as two swirling amber eyes; the size of his scotch glasses, came into sight. Glaring at the trio with a hunger they had never seen __before._

_"Oh shit."_

* * *

The years since his capture had taken a toll on the poor werewolf. After losing his pack for a second time; which had only recently acquired a new pup, Moony had found it almost impossible to go on. The only saving grace he found in his new cage, was that his human could no longer lock him away; and once a month he was free to be brought forth, body, mind and soul.

When his captures had first laid an innocent in his cage, the wolf had refused to touch the poor girl. She was young, and despite what the world thought, he was not a mindless beast. So he had let her be, choosing instead to bite and scratch himself in recompense for failing to protect his pack. His Sire grew angry with him for wasting such a wonderful feast, and after breaking the poor girl's neck the next morning, he announced that the only meals he would be receiving from now on, where the ones the silver haired wolf provided.

Both Remus and Moony tried to restrain themselves, but by the time the next full moon rose, the wolf was so hungry, and the weakened man before him put up little fight. And so the circle went on for years. His human would starve during the days, and once a month, the wolf would feast upon the soft, supple flesh of man, woman and child alike.

So it was with this routine set, that Moony came forth, the pain no longer registering in either of their minds. Opening his amber eyes slowly, Moony glanced around the never changing room, and found for the first time in ages, that there was no human in his cage with him. Cocking his head to the side, the rusty coloured werewolf wondered over the reason for this, when an aroma that he had not smelt for a long time wound its way across his nose. Shivering in remorse and pain, Moony pushed down the memories the scent brought with it, and lowered his head so that it laid upon his paws. It was probably his imagination; after all, his cub was dead.

Heaving another sigh, Amber eyes widened as the scent his nose once more; flooding his nose with the smell that was all his cub. Sticking his nose to the ground, Moony purred in delight as he found the spot his cub had only recently sat. Glancing around the cave, the wolf wondered why his cub was no longer there, when the sound of battle finally reached his ears.

Was his cub out there? He couldn't protect his cub if he wasn't within the wolf's grasp. Debating whether or not the door would finally budge after all these years, the wolf was just about to make his way towards the barrier, when the door opened on its own accord.

Staying in his corner where he knew the dark would keep him safe, Moony watched as two dark haired men and a woman that looked like she was on fire, made their way into the room; clearly not knowing that he was there. It had been so long since he had last eaten, but if he stayed still then maybe they would leave and he could follow them out. It had been so long since he had felt the wind in his fur.

The sudden glimmer of a shiny weapon pointed towards him, brought the hairs on his back to full attention. It would seem that he wasn't going to go undetected after all.

* * *

The first explosion was enough to get their attention, but after the men outside the door started screaming and the walls began to shake violently, Rabastian decided that it was time to move. Tossing the blade back onto the table, the brunette motioned for the henchman standing against the door to untie the Saviour whilst he grabbed his personal set of weapons. "We need to get out of here."

Stalking forward, Raza latched onto the taller man's arm and growled. "We had a deal."

Ripping his arm out of the Arab's grasp, Rabastian glared down at the man as he latched the potion carrying belt around his waist. "You arrogant imbecile," he spat. "What do you think is going on out there? My job is done, Stark is here and now I'm leaving."

Nostrils flaring at the words, dark obsidian eyes burned dangerously as they stared up at the panicking man. "You will not be leaving with my prisoner Mr LeStrange."

Whirling back around, Rabastian flicked his hand to his wand, but stopped mid step. There was enough tension in the air; he didn't need to add to it. "The deal was that you got Stark; Potter is mine."

The wizard could tell from the way his former business partner was eyeing him that neither would be leaving the room without blood spilt. Hand twitching once more towards his wand, Rabastian waited for the arab man to make his move, when suddenly massive explosion rattled the room, knocking loose dust and fist sized rocks. Tumbling to the floor, the Rabastian used the sudden diversion to his advantage. Pulling out his wand, the brunette rolled onto his back and aimed the wood at the man beside him. "Adav-"

BANG!

Not even blinking, Raza glanced up at the remainder of his ex-partner's face, and huffed. He felt no sympathy or empathy for the man; he was a means to an end, nothing more. Taking the hand offered to him by his second in command, the desert dweller found the way to his feet once more, before motioning to the man to get the dazed prisoner. "I want him on the first jeep out of here. The capture of Stark will not be of much use if we have nothing to threaten him with."

* * *

Swallowing loudly, Tony watched as the two glowing eyes narrowed in on the trio, taking in every miniscule movement they made.

"What do we do?" he whispered, his eyes never leaving the form hidden in the darkness.

The answer came not in the way the genius had hoped. Hearing the hushed words, the creature growled lowly, its yellowing canines glimmering in the faint light. Making sure that the beast wasn't going to pounce just yet, Coulson kept his eyes on the shrouded threat, and muttered softly. "When I say now, run back to the main cave. Do not look back."

Frowning, Tony glanced over at the Agent and for a second, completely forgetting that there was a vicious beast not ten feet away from them. "You can't be thinking what I think you're thinking."

Ignoring the brunette, Coulson tightened his hold on the pistol and squeezed the trigger lightly, earning yet another growl. "Get ready."

The growling grew louder; heavy paws digging at the ground in agitation.

"Coulson."

"NOW!"

Latching her arm around the billionaire's, Natasha jerked the man around so quickly that he could do nothing but follow. Loud barks echoed through the small, dank space as the pair bolted out of the room, and down the hallway.

BANG.

BANG.

BANG.

Ripping himself from the red head's hold, Tony spun back around, skidding along the loose dirt as he did so, and raced back into the room. The sight that met him was one that he never wished to see again.

"Coulson?!"

The panting creature lay half in shadow with blood gushing from the bullet wounds in its head. The one paw he could see was lying across the red stained body of Phil Coulson; its claws digging in deeply into the Agent's side. Dropping to ground, Tony quickly removed the claws from the man's side. "Fuck, you fucking idiot!"

Creeping up beside him, Natasha knelt down and placed her fingers on the man's neck. "There's a pulse," she whispered, removing her hand. "It looks like he hit his head on the way down; we need to get him to Banner."

Nodding absentmindedly, Tony made to pull the Agent up and into a fireman's hold, when the low rumble of a growl made its way faintly through the air to his ears once more. Chocolate brown eyes widening, Tony slowly dragged his gaze upward.

The movement was faint, but still very much there. Watching as the wounds that should have very much killed the creature, sluggishly closed over, Tony knew that there wouldn't be much time until the monster was on its feet again. "Fuck!"

Forcing his attention back onto the bleeding Agent, and not on the full set of claws that were leisurely pawing at the ground, the brunette hauled the limp body onto his shoulder as best as he could, and made for the door. "Natasha, let's go!"

The rumble coming from the beast grew louder. Glancing over his shoulder to make sure that the red head was following him, the billionaire hop, skip, and jumped as fast as the added weight would allow him. The warm liquid trickling down the back of his shirt was not helping the situation on bit, and when they got out of this, he swears that he's going to invest in a bullet-proof vest for the idiot. "Hang in there, Agent," he mutters, hoping that the assassin wasn't listening. "We're almost there."

Mentally sighing in relief as the mouth to the main chamber came into sight, Tony almost broke out into a jig, when the piercing sound of a wolf's howl echoed through the tunnel behind them. Feeling any colour in his face drain away, the engineer latched onto the red head with the arm not keeping the limp man on his shoulder, and pulled her along as quickly as they could. If they could get to the others, then maybe they had a chance at surviving.

* * *

Racing across the cave, Steve shielded the Doctor as best as he could from the flying bullets and debris. Catching an arrow fly past his head through the corner of his eye, the super soldier thanked god that the archer was on their side and not working for the baddies, as he slipped and slided his way across the camp. Not turning back to see the target the man was aiming at, Steve had just enough time to pull Bruce down, before Mjolnir made its way through the air.

Panting lightly, brown eyes glanced up at blue in thanks. "I didn't see that coming," Bruce whispered truthfully.

Shrugging, Steve pulled them both back onto their feet and motioned for the man to keep running. "I think he likes throwing it and summon it back," Steve huffed, lifting his shield once more as another random took aim. "He did it a lot during the fight with the Chitari, and we all learnt to duck very quickly."

Sliding to a halt behind a pile of rocks, Bruce chuckled at the thought of Thor playing boomerang with his hammer. That would be something that he could see the blonde doing.

Shaking away the thought, the scientist shoved his hand into the back-pack, and pulled out the last of the C-4. It wasn't much by many standards, but if he placed it in just the right spot, he knew that it would destroy the last of the Stark weapons. Mumbling a thanks to the Captain, Bruce motioned for him to return to the fight, before shuffling his way over to the pile and grinning.

It had been hard not to see the Stark Industries logo on the weapons Ross had used on him for so long; so now that he got to blow a whole fortunes worth of them up, he was very much ecstatic.

"_Hulk smash fire barrels!"_

Hooking the explosives up to the underbelly of the jewel crown in Stark Weapons; the Jericho missile, Bruce shook his head in exasperation. Since figuring out what the scientist was doing, Hulk had taken to sulking over the fact that 'puny man' got to destroy the weapons and he didn't. Bruce was sure that the others would find it hilarious once they found out, but for now, he would just have to keep the amusement to himself.

Nodding smugly at his work as he connected the last wire, Bruce bent down to set the timer, when the sudden appearance of Tony and Natasha caught his attention.

* * *

The shots to the head was not something Moony wished to repeat ever again, but as he laid on the ground, waiting for his head to heal, he took the time to take in the humans before him, and see if they really were worth the trouble of killing.

The younger two had bolted out the door the moment the elder had fired at him, but as the pair lay on the ground bleeding from their exchanged wounds, the wolf watched as the other man returned; his caution thrown to the wind.

The care that the younger showed to the injured man made the wolf wonder if the pair were pack, or even possibly mates. The woman returned not much later, making the wolf huff in annoyance. She was clearly a dominant female that could take on a threat, so the fact that she fled and left a pack member behind did not make her look good in Moony's book. Breathing deeply, the wolf tried to remain calm as his wounds healed, when the strong scent of his cub attacked his nostrils once more.

About to shake it off as the remnants of the patch he had found earlier, amber eyes narrowed as the wolf sniffed again. The smell was not coming from the patch on the ground.

It was coming from the younger man beside him.

Growling lowly, Moony attempted to stand, but barely managed a twitch. This human reeked of his cub, and more recently another creature. This human had taken his cub from him. Snarling, Moony made to move again, this time with a bit more success. Watching as the trio ran towards the door, the rustic wolf let out a howl in anger and pain. The humans had killed his pack and taken his strong cub.

Howling once more, Moony lifted himself from the ground and made his way towards the door. The wolf will follow the man that smells of his cub, and after he has him in his sight once more, he will turn on the human and feast on his flesh...

...and the flesh of any other human or beast that stands in his way.

* * *

Bursting out of the tunnel, Tony pushed the assassin against the ground just in time to see a mass of mattered fur fly over his head. Dragging himself back up, the brunette was glad to notice that the Agent was coming to, before turning his attention to the monster glaring down at them from its spot on a rock. Now that there was more light, chocolate eyes could see clearly that the creature was really a wolf...

...a very large, hungry wolf.

Clearing the height of a SUV easily on all fours, Tony took in the rusty brown colouring of its fur, and massive paws that hid away extraordinarily dangerous claws. Sneaking a quick peek at the rest of the cave, he was mildly surprised to watch as the terrorists fighting Steve and Thor took one look at the massive beast, and scuttled as quickly for the exits as they could.

"Stark! What the hell did you do?!" Steve's voice rang through the com-link, as the team eyed off the growling wolf.

Indignant, Tony whipped around to glare at the Super Soldier. "Me?!" he squawked, completely ignoring the danger that they all faced. "Why does everyone automatically assume that it was me?"

Clutching his side, Coulson stood carefully and pointed his gun at the wolf once more. "Because nine times out of ten, it is you."

Rolling his eyes, Tony turned his attention back to the creature just in time to catch a glint of rage flash across the amber eyes. "Fuck."

Groaning in frustration, Tony tried to side step the creature, but stopped when the wolf let out yet another growl in warning.

"I've got a clear shot," Clint muttered over the com. "Do you want me to take it?"

Catching a quick glance at the spot he knew the archer was hiding, Tony voiced a negative in reply. "This thing took three bullets to the head, I don't think that your arrows are going to do jack-squat."

"Well then what do you suggest Tin Man?"

The wolf was becoming agitated. It was clear as day, or least to the team as they stood in a circle around the creature. Tugging at the sweat soaked locks on his head, Tony glanced around for any way out of this mess, but came up with nothing.

Sneaking a peek at the engineer, Bruce made to step forward, but stopped when Coulson sent him a warning glance over the beast's head. "I could change into the Other Guy," he suggested, earning a flick of the ear from the wolf.

"And tear the cave down on our head," Tony exclaimed, his voice near hysterical. "I think not. Besides, if this is what I think it is, we don't want anyone going near it; especially its teeth."

Holding his shield tightly in his grasp, Steve shifted worryingly in his spot as he kept an eye on just how close the creature was to his team mates. "What's that suppose to mean Stark?"

Rolling his eyes, the billionaire forgot for just a second that he was standing in front of a very angry creature, and stared at the soldier as if he couldn't believe that someone could be so blonde. Mind you, he had dated that model that couldn't open a twist cap...

"I mean that if that is what I think it is, then we have a very pissed werewolf on our hands."

The com-devices went dead as each individual attempted to grasp what the brunette had just said.

"Stark, that's just lore-"

Turning to face the red head, Tony raised an eyebrow and scoffed; the low growl from the wolf becoming background noise to his ears. "You work with a genius that is powered by a glowing circle, a man that turns into a giant green guy, a god from Norse mythology, a man that served in world war two, and a full blown, wand waving wizard; and this is where you draw the line?"

Not taking her eyes or gun off the giant wolf, Natasha raised an eyebrow in return. "How did you come up with that theory?" she quipped back, completely bypassing the brunette's question.

Waving his hand, Tony rolled his eyes when the wolf returned the gesture with a snarl. "Harry's Godfather was a werewolf. I think he said that they called him mooey, or moony-"

The sound of his name made the wolf stop snarling and lift his head; his ears ramrod straight. Blinking at the sudden change in the wolf's demure, Tony lowered the hand he had been waving around. "Moony?"

Barking, the wolf let pawed the ground in front of him, but did not move. Ignoring the two hissing agents beside him, Tony took a step forward; lowering himself to a crouching position when the wolf pulled his ears back and showed his teeth in warning. "It's ok," Tony muttered, baring his neck in submission. When they had first gotten together, Tony had been fascinated with his partner's world, and had wanted to learn everything about it. Thinking back to the late night conversations they used to have after making love, the brunette could almost hear his husband's voice as he told him all about the truth of magic and lore.

"_Pixies are nasty little bastards. They like to play tricks, and must not be handled be dumb arse blondes with more hair product in their head than actual brains."_

"_What about werewolves?"_

"_Extremely dangerous. My god father was a kind soul, but during the full moon, he turned into a dangerous creature that works only off the most primal urges. They are fast, cunning, and will have you spread across the forest floor before you can even blink. If you ever come across one, your best chance is to get as low to the ground and submit to them fully. They are just like normal wolves, don't fight for dominance, and don't act like prey, and you should be fine."_

"_That's- scary; I'll just stay out of forests. Hmmm, what about the Loch Ness?"_

"_Hahaha, good choice. Um, I don't think that actually exists, but we did have a giant squid at my school-"_

"Stark! What the hell are you doing?!"

Lowering himself further to the ground, Tony kept his eyes averted, and tilted his head so that his neck was available to the creature. He could hear the other's protests even without his com-device, but if they were going to get out of this, then he needed to trust his husband and follow his advice. Keeping silent, the brunette waited with baited breath, until finally the feeling of course whiskers brushed against his cheek.

It had taken the wolf three steps to reach the kneeling man, and with each member aiming their weapon of choice at the creature, the team waited in silence as the scene before them unfolded.

Sniffing the skin offered, Moony took his time to decide whether this human was a threat. The scent of his cub was all over the man but it did not smell of fear of pain. Sniffing again, Moony thought for a moment, before the answer finally clicked in the back of his mind. Mate.

This was his cub's mate.

The fact that he man smelt of another creature did not ease the wolf's mind, but that was something between his cub and mate, not him. Grazing his tongue across the man's neck as a symbol of care, the wolf opened his jaw and gently bit down on the soft skin. Not enough to pierce, but just enough to make an impression.

Waiting for the wolf to let go, Tony stayed in his position, and looked the magical creature dead in the eye. He knew that the others were probably second guessing his sanity at that very moment, but he knew what he was doing. Or at least he hoped.

"I can't believe that I'm going to have a conversation with a wolf," he muttered, not realising that the rest of the team could hear him. Keeping his face lowered, Tony eyed the taller being warily. "You're Moony aren't you?"

Yipping, Moony pawed the ground again. Ok, Tony could take that as a yes.

"Your cub, Harry, he was taken from his pack by the same people that took you."

Trying not to flinch as the wolf began growling again, Tony signalled behind him for the others to stay where they were, before continuing. "We need your help to find him."

The genius waited silently as the wolf seemed to ponder over what the man had just said. Opening his mouth to try again, Tony was slightly surprised when the werewolf raised his head to the sky and howled loudly. Not moving from their spots, the Avengers watched in shock as the large creature lowered its head and began to sniff its way around the cave.

Standing slowly, Tony almost jerked as a muscle bound arm thumped itself across his back. "That was a true show of bravery," Thor muttered, not wanting to draw the creature's attention onto himself.

Snorting, Natasha made her way to stand beside them. "Idiocy more like."

Nodding in agreement, Coulson pulled the load out of his gun and checked how many he had left. "If you ever do something like that again, Mr Stark, I'll save the creature the hassle and shoot you myself."

Sliding down the wall from his perch, Clint opened his mouth to add to the threat, but was stopped by the loud howl coming from the other end of the cave. "Looks like your new friend found something."

Nodding, Tony motioned for them to follow him. The werewolf pacing on the spot as it waited for them to follow. "C'mon."

Shuffling over to the group, Bruce grinned in relief at seeing the billionaire still in one piece.

"Hey Doc," Hawkeye called out over his shoulder. "Aren't you forgetting something?"

Looking at the archer in confusion, Bruce thought over what had happened, before hitting his head and doubling back. Waving at all of them to start running, the scientist set the detonator on the last stash of weapons, before bolting in the direction the rest of the team had headed. The sound of rocks falling and explosions going off hitting their ears as they followed the creature in what they could only hope was the right direction.


	21. Chapter 21

The emerald eyed wizard felt for the first time since the end of the war, completely useless and defenceless against the Muggles currently holding him hostage. Limply hanging from the broad shoulders of a guard as he made his way down the tunnels, Harry idly thought back to his Godfather, and wondered if he had been fed yet.

"Not much further," Raza's sharp tone called out from somewhere ahead. "When we reach the hold, chuck him in a jeep and go."

Feeling the man's head move against his leg, the wizard bit back a gasp as the idiot stumbled on some rocks, resulting in the idiot's shoulder digging into his wound even further than it had before. If only he had his magic; he thought bitterly, then he would show these arseholes just what fucking around with him would achieve. Bitting back another groan, the Savoir let his stomach muscles relax as much as they could in this position, and sighed deeply. He was so getting back into shape the moment he got back home, this damsel in distress routine was growing old.

* * *

The air grew colder as the team ran further and further into the cave system. The wolf leading them was surprisingly quick on his feet, which left not time for the group to stop for even a second. Feeling the sense of urgency and near completion that the genius had come to realize was the climax of a battle; Tony pushed himself forward, praying that he wasn't too late.

Glancing briefly around at the rest of the team as they ran beside him, the brunette was mildly shocked when a strange feeling washed over him. It wasn't a painful feeling, and it didn't make him feel sick, but as he mentally prodded it, he realised that it was something he had never felt before. Something that he honestly could not label.

"Can you smell that?"

Pushing down the foreign feeling, Tony rounded on the scientist beside him and raised an eyebrow in question. Keeping his eyes on the tunnel ahead, Bruce sniffed the air again, before nodding to himself. "We're close."

Not slowing down, Clint turned to the doctor and smiled mischievously. "Are you part wolfhound, Doc?"

Shaking his head, Bruce faced the archer, and replied with his own sarcastic grin. His eyes glowing acid green for all to see. "We used many different strands of DNA during the experimentation to see what reacted to the gamma and what didn't, but I don't think wolfhound was one of them."

Shuddering at the thought of needles and lab rats in general, Clint nodded firmly, before moving his attention to the wolf up ahead once more. Smirking at her partner's reaction, Natasha glanced over to the smirking scientist, and winked. There was very little that could freak the archer out, but when something did, Natasha found it hilarious.

Skidding to a halt, Moony turned his rustic head around to face them and yipped. Pulling up just beside the massive beast, the group slowly glanced around the edge of the cave's mouth, and growled as they took in the base set up just outside of the caves. Glancing around for anything familiar, Tony growled loudly as chocolate brown eyes caught sight of a large, muscular man, making his way towards the jeeps; his husband's limp form dangling over his broad shoulder.

Hearing nothing but the loud heavy thumps of his heart hammering away in his ears, the billionaire pulled himself away from the group, and made his way out of the cave's mouth.

"Stark! What are you doing?"

Ignoring the furious whispers and muttered orders for him to stop, Tony marched across the compound and headed for the row of vehicles. He needed to get there before the man took off. Picking up pace, the brunette was almost half way there, when the first idiot figured out who he was. Screaming out in some deep accent that Tony didn't know from a bar of soap, the dirt covered man charged towards him; blade occupied arms swinging wildly as he did so. Glancing his way for only one second to make sure the aim was lined up, Tony turned back to his main target, and fired-

BANG.

The sudden sound of gun fire was like the sound of an alarm to everyone with the compound. Dodging idiots as they raced around the area, the brunette kept his gaze forward, never letting the jeep out of his sight.

"Stark!"

Whirling around at the sound of his name, Tony dropped to the ground just in time to see a multitude of bullets streak their way across the sky above him. Paying no attention to the pain in his knees from the fall, or the way his body was laid out along the ground with no way to protect it; the genius closed his eyes, and listened to the machine gun as it let out round after round.

The fact that the geniuses running this organization thought that the billionaire didn't know his own weapons, had always felt like a personal insult to Tony. When he was younger, he was forever going over his Father's designs, trying desperately understand the difference between each make, if only to please the man. As he grew older, the habit became ingrained, no longer helping the man to impress his Father, but to make each of his weapons better, and more indestructible than the last.

Thinking back to the games he and Jarvis would play to see how many he could correctly name from sound alone, the genius closed all thoughts off, and forced his attention entirely onto the task at hand.

One point two second reload, but the trigger seems to be stuck; so part of the Canaanite range. The tripod's neck is smouldered so there is only horizontal movement, no vertical. That would mean that the barrel was too heavy for such movement, which would place it within the first four models. And that meant that all he had to do, was wait. Opening his eyes slowly, Tony watched as the bullets flew over his head, none of them even close to hitting him.

There had been a reason the company decided to stop manufacturing these back in '06, but seemed that the Ten Rings never received that particular memo. Knowing that his window wasn't too far off, the brunette tightened his hold on the pistol in his hands, and counted it down.

Three.

The bullets flew far and wide, forcing friends and foe alike to duck and run for cover.

Two.

Spit flew from the gunman's lips, his face twisted in a demented grin as he watched the bodies fall to the ground like sacks of flour.

One.

The pin moved to quickly, wedging itself in between two bullets, jamming the gun and rendering it temporarily useless; despite how much the jammed trigger said otherwise. Sitting up in a flash of movement, Tony raised his pistol and aimed.

BANG.

Clutching at his chest, the gunman glanced down, eyes wide, as he searched for a bullet wound that would signal the end of his life. Finding none, the man glanced back down at the engineer, and grinned viciously. "You missed, Iron Man."

Raising and eyebrow, Tony stared at the point the bullet had hit and smirked. "Did I?"

Turning slowly, the gunman felt his eyes widen once more as he noticed for the first time, the massive pile of fuel drums and weapons sitting behind him. Watching as the potent liquid glugged its way down the drum and onto the ground below him, the man did not notice the machine gun rattling away beside him until it was too late. Finding itself jammed, the trigger continued its attempt at removing the pin from its unfortunate position. Shaking violently, the tripod fell to the ground; shocking the gun in such a way that the pin found itself dislodged and free to move once more-

BOOM.

Not bothering to watch the fireworks, Tony took the advantage, and used the distraction to pick himself up and make his way towards the jeeps once more.

* * *

There was no way that they were going to be able to get past everyone. Not without a plan.

Huddling down beside everyone else, Steve went over the possible ideas to distract and take down the terrorist cell, when a movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention. "Stark! What are you doing?"

Watching as the genius stalked his way towards the cave's entrance, the blonde growled in frustration as Bruce and Clint reached out to stop the idiot, but were too slow. Shuffling across the dirt, the team piled up at the entrance, eyeing the billionaire with disbelief.

"Remind me when we return to the Tower to lock him out of the Lab for a week," Coulson muttered, his eyes never leaving the lithe form.

Nodding, Clint tilted her head in question. "Where is he going?"

Pawing at the ground, Moony whimpered lowly, but did not move any further. His eyes focused on something on the other side of the compound that was being covered by the billionaire's frame. Noticing the wolf's tense form, Bruce opened his mouth to point it out to the others, but was stopped as his attention was drawn back to the engineer and the possible threat heading his way.

Tightening the holds on their weapons as someone ran up to the brunette, the group where shocked as they watched Tony lift the gun and fire without second thought. They had all seen the man take on opponents before, but never with so little compassion and empathy for the fellow being.

"I think this day has put much strain on the Man of Iron," Thor muttered, his eyes wrinkling in worry. "We should not linger here for much longer."

Nodding in agreement, Natasha opened her mouth to add her two cents, but instead gasped as something in the corner of her eye grabbed her attention. "Stark!"

Watching as the brunette dropped onto his back as bullets flew through the air, the team watched in horror as one of their own was pinned down by the idiot on the machine gun. The fact that this particular model seemed to have no vertical tilt capability did little to ease their worry, as someone could still quite easily fire on the billionaire while he was on the ground defenceless.

Hitching his shield up slightly higher, Steve made to step out, but was stopped by a hand on his arm. Glancing down at the arm, Steve followed it until he came face to face with the team's handler.

"You can't go out," the Agent muttered, not removing his hand from where it laid.

Frowning, Steve turned back to the scene and watched as everyone dodged away from the flying bullets. "I can protect myself and get close enough to the man to stop him."

Shaking his head, Bruce glanced over at the super soldier and grimaced in apology. "You can protect yourself, but any stray bullets could ricochet off your shield and hit Tony."

Grinding his teeth in annoyance, Steve knew he could make it, but stayed where he was nonetheless, watching hopelessly as his team member lay on the ground as if already dead. Feeling useless, the team watched on, waiting for an opportunity to step in, when suddenly the gun jammed up, stopping its assault on the air around them. Sitting up faster than any of the team thought possible, Tony raised his pistol and fired at the man behind the machine gun.

Frowning when the sound of the attacker's laughter hit her ears, Natasha racked the scene in front of her for any clues as to why the billionaire missed such a clean shot, when the pieces fell into place faster than a pulled grenade. "Get down!"

Pulling her partner down beside her, the red head felt her body hit the ground just as the sound of a massive explosion hit their ears, rendering them useless. Waiting for the high pitch whistling sound to retreat from her mind, the assassin gave herself a second to recompose, before pulling herself back up and eyeing the compound as it now stood.

"What the hell was that?"

Pulling himself back up from the vertical position the explosion had forced him into, Bruce glanced up at the red head, and waited for an answer. Not bothering to turn around, Natasha kept her eyes on the lone figure in the middle of the field. The shock of the explosion should have blown out his eardrums.

"He found a window," she muttered, breathing in deeply as the wind sent the smoke towards them. "I think subtle is no longer an option. Orders Cap?"

Shaking his head in an attempt to dislodge the whistling still in his ears, Steve lifted his shield up once more and turned to his grim covered team. The mission had so far been nowhere near as strenuous as the last, but he knew that if they didn't get out of there soon, then someone was going to get hurt.

"Bruce, Widow, I'm going to need you to follow Stark and assist him if possible," he ordered, pointing at them as he did so. "Hawkeye's going to head to that tree there, and use the forest line for cover. Coulson I want you to dismantle all forms of transport, and then get SHIELD on the line. If they have so much technology here, then that means that we can too. Thor and I will round up as many of the soldiers as possible. Keep an eye out for the leaders, and anyone with a wand. Let's go."

Nodding once, the team stood up and made their way into the chaos that was the compound. Not sure what they were doing, but not really caring, Moony took their movement as a sign, and quickly raced across the cleared area and towards the jeeps...

* * *

He was still too far away.

Bolting across the compound, the engineer put everything he had into his legs, but as he watched the man get into the driver's seat and start the engine, he knew that he was too late.

"No, no, no!" He screamed, pushing his legs to go faster.

Watching as the red lights disappeared into the darkness as the jeep took off into the forest, Tony felt his whole world crumble into a fiery pool of despair. He had had one shot, one chance to save his husband, and he had fucked it up.

"Tony!"

Unable to take his eyes away from the spot he had just watched his life disappear, the genius waited until his team mates stood beside him, before opening his mouth. "He's gone," he whispered.

Staring at the brunette, Bruce glanced at the spot that he was staring and then back to the other man. "What did they take him in?" he asked, the tinge of acid green seeping into his eyes once more.

Unaware of the happenings beside him, or of the red head slowly stepping aside, Tony let his shoulders slump in defeat. "A jeep," he muttered. "But there's no way that we'll find them in that maze, it's too dark to see anything."

Forcing himself to relax as the change slowly consumed him, Bruce forced chocolate brown eyes to focus on him, and grinned. "Don't worry," he grunted, his voice a strangled mutation of the Other Guy's and his own. "I've got this."

Feeling a new wave of hope wash over him, the brunette watched as his science bro seeped away, leaving a creature much larger and well equipped for these situations in his place. Cracking his neck as the last of the transformation took place, the Hulk clenched his meaty hands into solid fists, and roared loudly.

Astounded by the process that he didn't get to properly see during the last mission, Tony grinned manically as the beefy green head swung his way and smirked down at him. "Where?" the deep, grumbling voice boomed.

Lifting his hand, Tony pointed in the direction the jeep took off in, and watched as the giant green rage monster took off; an equally large wolf hot on its heels. Staring after them until they were no longer visible, Tony turned back to the assassin waiting patiently at his side, and grinned menacingly. "Feel like playing 'who can find the Raza'?"

Smirking back, Natasha lifted her hand in reply and clicked on the power for her glove. "I thought you'd never ask."

* * *

Putting the vehicles out of action was a breeze for the Special Agent, but as he gunned down yet another idiot that thought they could sneak up on him, Coulson wished that he could say the same about getting in contact with SHIELD.

"_I'm sorry sir, but I don't have you on file."_

Using one hand to hold the phone to his ear, Coulson quickly used the other to grab a slighter taller man and bring his head down to connect with his knee. Making sure that the potential attacker was definitely down and out, the Agent brought his attention back to the conversation at hand, and growled into the receiver. "Are you looking to be the new practice range target for the trainees?" he asked as he sent lead flying through the air and into another's chest. "Because I can assure you that is exactly what is going to happen if you don't put me thru to Director Fury in the next five seconds."

"_But sir-"_

"Four."

"_I can't just-"_

"Three, I must warn you Agent, that this year's batch have a truly terrible aim. You tell them to hit the shoulder, and they hit the leg. Two."

"_I just – fine, I'll put you through now."_

Firing off another bullet, Coulson felt the corners of his lips twitch happily. He always got what he wanted.

"_Fury here."_

Grabbing hold of the hand that snuck up to hit him on the back of the head, Coulson twisted it around until he heard a satisfying pop followed by a screech of pain. "Director Sir, we have located the hostage and are currently in the process of restabilising ownership of him."

"_That's good to hear Coulson, I wasn't aware that you were heading into a dead com spot."_

Slamming the butt of his gun into the still screaming man's head, Coulson grinned as he interpreted his boss' worry. "Neither was I Sir. Apparently the magical saturation of the area would play havoc to most electricals. Stark was able to provide me with a phone that I could use in case of emergency."

"_Well that's disturbing to hear. Is there anything you need from this end?"_

"Yes Sir." Pausing for a second to send a kick at a gun pointed his way, Coulson lifted his own gun, and before the man could recover from the hit, placed two bullets into his chest. "I would like to request a recon team, a clean-up crew, and a medic team. We have the situation under control for now, but it seems to be a main branch and the extra men may come in handy to control the parameter."

"_Agreed. Send your co-ordinates, Geoff and his team will be there in under thirty."_

Using his shoulder to hold the phone whilst he changed over the rounds, Coulson frowned at the news. "Are you sure you want to send Geoff? We can wait for another team."

Hearing the sigh through the phone, the Agent stopped for a second and waited for the answer. _"There are no other teams within range at the moment, you're just going to have to deal with it for now."_

Knowing that there was no way to get out of it, Coulson answered in affirmative. Pulling the phone back to hang up, the Agent paused and put it back to his ear, just in time to hear the Director's last words.

"_Oh, and Coulson, make sure Romanoff and Barton don't kill him; he still has paperwork to fill out."_

* * *

**A/N:**** Oooo, we're at the final hurdle! Who's going to find Raza first? Will Remus and the Hulk find the jeep in time? What will Clint do once he sets sights on Geoff? **

I do apologize for the wait, I have four assignments and an exam this month, and I am swamped. Already working on the next chapter and next story, but seeing as it took me over two weeks to complete this chap, I wouldn't hold your breath. Thank you everyone that has reviewed and passed the series along, seeing all the wonderful comments posted really puts a smile on my face. Don't forget to check out some of my other works!


	22. Chapter 22

Dust flew into the air as two sets of boots raced across the compound. Using his blue, red and silver shield as a buffer between them and the bullets flying through the air, Steve waited until they were covered by the darkness of the forest, before lowering it and turning to face the sweating archer.

"You think you can handle it from here?"

The concern in the Captain's voice was evident, if not slightly touching. Not bothering to return the blonde's gaze, Clint took in his surroundings, quickly noting the best positions and possible escape routes. "Yeah," he muttered at last, hooking his bow over his shoulder in preparation of the next part of his mission. "I got this Cap, you go do your bit. I don't think Thor's going to wait for you."

Not sure if the archer was speaking the truth, but knowing that he did indeed have to return to the compound where the Norse God was currently using his hammer as a concrete boomerang, blue eyes steeled on last glance at the shorter sniper and nodded.

"Keep us updated."

Sparing a glance at the solider, Clint watched as sharp red boots spun on the spot and pushed off back the way they came from. He knew that sending Steve off like that was stupid, and he was more than likely going to be chewed out about it later, but at this very moment they had the upper hand. He was not going to lose that just because some idiot got lucky with a shot. Making his way towards the lowest branch of his chosen tree, Clint stomped down the gasp that threatened to escape his mouth. Bullets to the thigh were a bitch, but he had had worse.

Favouring his left leg, the archer latched onto the nearest branch available and started the slow, painful process of getting himself into position. Shouts and sounds of explosions made their way through the air, but the blonde did not let that deter him. Finally reaching a branch that would give him best eyesight of the field below whilst covering him from vision, Clint took a second to glance down at his aching leg and assess just how bad the wound was.

The bullet was still lodged, that much was clear as he poked at the blood soaked patch on his uniform. It seemed to have missed his artery but was still bleeding heavily. Snapping open a pocket on his vest, Clint pulled out a folded bandage and a roll of gauze before closing the pocket back up and setting to work. Wrapping the gauze tightly around the wound, the archer knew that he would have to go see medical after this, but until then, would be fine.

Finally tucking the end of the gauze underneath the other layers, the agent wiped his blood caked hands on his other leg, before grabbing his bow and preparing himself for the next move.

Fuck Natasha was going to kill him later for this, he just knew it.

* * *

Dew covered leaves and branches whipped at green hued cheeks as the Hulk raced through the thick foliage; the four legged creature an ever present shadow by his side. The news of the Magic Man disappearing had both hurt and angered the Hulk. He was still upset with what Bruce had done with the Tin Man, but that was nothing compared to the loss of the Magic Man. Magic Man calmed the Hulk's inner anger, made him feel like more than just the mindless beast everyone calls him.

Breathing in deeply, Acid green eyes flashed ominously as the scent of the Magic Man and another swirled around his nostrils.

He was getting close.

Pushing his calf muscles into overdrive, the Hulk let out a mighty roar. Howling in reply, Moony pushed his food deprived body harder, but knew that if they didn't catch up soon, then he would be left behind. Racing through the darkness, the pair finally caught sight of two glowing red lights off to the horizon, when a sudden flash of greying white to the left caught their eyes. Turning his head to see just what it was, Moony let out a startled yelp as the white blur crashed into his side, pushing both him and it down onto the moss covered forest floor.

Hearing the yelp, Hulk felt the need to go back and help the wolf, but scent of the Magic Man flew past his nose once more. Magic Man was injured and just within arm's reach. Glancing over his shoulder, Hulk caught sight of the wolf forcing himself to stand back up, and huffed. Wolf was fine, Wolf could take care of himself, at least until Hulk came back with Magic Man.

Nodding at the thought, Hulk ignored the shouting voice of Bruce Banner at the back of his head; telling him to go back and help the wolf, and continued on his way towards the glowing red tail-lights.

* * *

Slamming his opponent's face into the silo, Tony heard a sickening crunch that was sure to be the man's nose breaking. The numbers were starting to die down, but the chaos was still there. Pinning the screaming man there with the hand wrapped in the idiot's hair, Tony took the second to quickly glance around the area and see how everyone else was fairing.

By the number of bodies slumped along the parameter with arrows sticking out of some part of their body, the genius could see that the archer was hard at work. Steve and Thor were in the middle of the compound, re-enacting their wonderful performance in the 'Battle of New York', and Natasha and Coulson were slipping in and out of the shadows taking down anyone that had somehow bypassed the other three. Feeling the man in his grasp start to pull against his hold, Tony turned his attention back to the moron. "You just didn't know when to run, did you?"

Watching as the curly haired man screamed up at him in a language that he thought might be Turkish, Tony quickly grabbed both sides of the man's head and jerked it to the left.

SNAP.

The sound echoed through the enclosed section of the camp that the pair had somehow stumbled into, but the engineer paid it no attention. Once, not so long ago, he would have. He would have been sickened by it too. The feeling of his blood stained hands was bad enough with all the deaths his weapons had caused, but to actually kill a man himself without the use of the Iron Man suit?

Glancing down at the dead body as it slumped to the ground, Tony couldn't help but notice that there was not an ounce of pity or self-disgust hidden within him, crying out at the crime he had just committed. Maybe his former title was correct? Maybe he truly was the Merchant of Death, and the Iron Man suit had just been a way of containing his weapons to a point that no-one else could use them, but at the same time make it look like he was trying to save the world.

This was not the first man he had killed, and certainly not the first with his bare hands. So why was this particular man so important? Why was this situation he found himself in forcing the billionaire to question his entire Being?

Tearing his wide brown eyes away from the lifeless shell laying at his feet, Tony forced himself to walk away and back into the fray. This was not the time to question his choices; they were there to get his husband back, the end.

And as the first drops of rain hit his cheeks, the strong willed brunette that wore his masks like second skins felt the little boy still waiting for his parents to return home fade away, leaving nothing more than a gaping hole in his chest and a lone tear in the corner of his eye.

* * *

The stench of decaying flesh and musty earth was more than enough for Moony to know who it was without looking up.

Fenrir.

Raging in the back of his mind, Remus yelled at his counterpart to stand up and face the beast head on. Forcing his suddenly aching paws to straighten out and hold his weight, Moony gave himself a second to clear his mind before turning to face his latest threat.

Standing off to the side, Greyback stared mockingly down at the weakling he had created, and sneered. He had had such high hopes for the cub, and now here he stood, half starved and mentally broken thinking that he could take on the greatest Alpha of the Northern Hemisphere. The thought was just too much. Shaking his head in amusement, Fenrir made to follow the green giant and the wheeled machine, when the sound of a low growl stopped him mid step.

Glancing over at the rustic wolf, Fenrir knew he shouldn't have been surprised, but the sight of Moony raising his hackles in warning had the greying wolf mentally raising his eyebrows. Knowing where this was leading, but needing to see if the wolf would really follow through, Fenrir purposefully took another step forward and waited to see what the other would do.

Moony knew that his maker was goading him, but as the second step was taken, the slightly smaller wolf couldn't help but react accordingly, Leaping across the path, the Marauder quickly skidded to a halt in front of the wolf and snarled. The threat was clear to the both of them; 'One more step, and I will rip you to shreds'.

Time slowed to a stop.

Staring down the other, the two abnormally large wolves stood frozen waiting for the other to make the first move. Quickly growing impatient and wanting to move the show along, Fenrir lifted his paw almost mockingly and slowly placed it down on the dirt between them.

The reaction was instantaneous.

Snarling, Moony pushed himself off the ground and right into the boulder of muscle and fur, his teeth biting at any flesh it could find. Rearing back onto his two hind legs, Fenrir used his front to try and force the smaller wolf away, but found the creature to be much more stubborn than what he had first thought. Finally getting in a decent swipe, the greying wolf used the move to his advantage. Snapping his jaw shut over the back of Moony's neck, Fenrir mentally grinned at the startled whimper the other issued, before using his mass and strength to throw the wolf across the forest floor.

Sailing through the air, Moony yelped as his body crashed into the trunk of a rather thick tree, dislodging at least one of his ribs in the process. Glancing over at Fenrir as he gave a wolfish grin, Moony knew that the monster was expecting him to not stand back up, but he now had something to fight for, and like bloody hell he was going to let that bastard lay one paw on his cub!

Watching as the other finally decided that he wasn't getting back up and turned to leave, Moony sprung up off the ground and latched his teeth around the side of Fenrir's neck. Yelping in shock and slight pain, Fenrir attempted to use his legs to scratch the insolent cub off his side, but Moony held tight. He didn't have the strength for one more bout.

Sinking his teeth in deeper, the sudden taste of cooper almost shocked the rustic wolf into letting go, but the image of Fenrir going after his cub was enough to keep him going on. The whimpers grew louder the harder he bit, the flow of blood gushing into his mouth. Feeling the other's attempts to remove him grow weaker, Moony knew that it was time to end the Big Bad Wolf's reign. With one last squeeze, Moony closed his eyes and savoured the feel of bone crushing under his teeth.

CRUNCH.

Feeling the larger wolf go still, Moony let the bloodied body drop from his mouth and onto the forest floor.

It was over.

He was finally free.

Ignoring the spoils of war that lay at his feet just waiting for him to feast upon, Amber eyes glanced back towards the route the green giant had taken. His cub was still missing, but by now the trail was starting to fade. Sensing the oncoming thunderstorm about to hit, the wolf knew that he had to at least try.

Taking a step towards the path, Moony was surprised when a sudden wave of dizziness washed over him, forcing him to the ground. Glancing down at his body, Amber eyes attempted to figure out what was happening, but his mind was too fuzzy. Whimpering, Moony laid his down on his paws and huffed loudly. Dark circles entered his vision and the wolf knew that he wouldn't be awake for much longer. Hoping that the green giant would be successful and bring his cub back to him, the wolf finally closed his eyes and let the darkness consume him.

* * *

Pain shot through his body as the jeep bounced along the untouched terrain. Feeling his mind slip in and out of consciousness, Harry stared out at the passing trees and bushes and sighed deeply. It wouldn't be too much longer and then he'll be on a plane to some other remote place where the others will never find him.

ROAR.

Starting, emerald eyes widened as the anger filled roar tore through the night air. Ignoring the idiot in the front seat, Harry forced his body to sit up from its slumped position and glance out the rear window into the darkness. He knew that sound.

THUMP.

THUMP.

THUMP.

ROAR.

Hulk.

They hadn't given up! Catching a flash of green through the dark shadows Harry felt his eyes well at the sight. The Hulk was coming to save him, and the idiot in the front seat could do nothing about it. Feeling his mind cloud once again, the wizard laid himself back down onto the backseat and closed his eyes knowing that next time he opened them, he would be with his new family once more. Letting the sound of Hulk's earth shaking footsteps lull his aching mind into a deep sleep, Harry let a small smile grace his lips as the world blurred away into a state of unconsciousness.

* * *

It was obvious to both the Hulk and Bruce that the tiny man in the car had not been in the area for very long and had never driven in a forest before. Snorting in unison as they caught sight of the man screaming at the bogged car, Hulk slowed his pace and quietly made his way towards the small vehicle. The air reeked of Magic Man, and from the smell of it, he was in bad shape. Growling at the thought, Hulk reached for the roof of the jeep and rolled it back like a sardine can. Screaming in a surprisingly high pitched voice, the driver picked up the gun sitting on the passenger seat and opened fire.

Frowning as the annoying pieces of metal hit his face, Hulk reefed the metal fire-rod out of the driver's hands and snapped it in half.

"Holy Shit!" the driver screamed, stumbling back as far as the car's restrictions would allow him.

Watching as the tiny man yelled out profanities whilst attempting to reach the other door in a bid for escape, Hulk waited until the tiny man actually touched the door handle before picking him up by the scruff of his neck. Holding him up at eye level, the Hulk could smell the fear radiating off the man, and for once instead of being disgusted or angered by it, the Hulk felt an odd sensation in the middle of his chest that made him want to grin threateningly at the tiny man.

"_It's called amusement,"_ Bruce offered from where he was watching at the back of his mind. _"And whilst this is kind of dark, I wouldn't disagree with it either."_

Huffing, Hulk narrowed his eyes at the begging man in his hands and wondered out loud. "What do we do with tiny man?"

Mentally shrugging, Bruce stared down at the quivering mess. _"Don't know, don't care," _he admitted, feeling completely honest for once._ "But make it quick, we still need to get Harry back to medical."_

Understanding that he was being given full reign, Hulk kept his gaze on the now crying man and grinned menacingly.

* * *

The rain was bucketing down as the requested back-up touched down on the little clearing that had somehow turned into a war zone. Motioning for the squad of seven to exit the chopper and enter sequence one to secure the area, Agent Simon Geoff jumped down from his position on the chopper's leg and scanned his surroundings with sharp hazel eyes.

Multiple men of the Middle Eastern persuasion ran haphazardly across the compound, waving weapons at anything and everything that moved. Two of the newest additions to the SHIELD recruitment stood in the middle of the compound, flinging their weapons around whilst their bright spangled uniforms made them stick out like a sore thumb. Glancing down at a dead man with an arrow sticking out of his eye socket, Geoff plucked his toothpick out of his mouth and flicked it onto the ground.

"Agent Geoff, you took longer than expected."

Turning away from the body that clearly stated the agency's pet bird as also present, Geoff stared down at the higher ranking Agent making his way towards him, and forcing down a sneer as he did so. "Agent Coulson," he nodded, ignoring the jab at his team arriving late. "Heard that your new team were in over their heads, so we got came to see if we could salvage anything worth saving."

Frowning at the comment, Coulson glanced over to where Steve and Thor were taking down a group of heavily armed terrorists, and shook his head in disagreement. "I wouldn't say that. We are about to have the package back in our control, and I called you in to take over until Clean Up arrives so that we can return to base as quickly as possible."

"So you basically called us in to clean up their mess?" Snorting at the thought, Geoff eyed the shorter man before him, and finally let the sneer take over his features. "In case this has escaped your mind, Sir, my team are a highly trained group of specialists that deal with rogue assassins and terrorist's cells on a weekly basis. We are not a team of nannies to take over half finished jobs and clean up when your latest boy band can't do it themselves!"

He knew that he had overstepped the boundaries, but as he glared down at the stony face of Agent Phil Coulson, Geoff felt that he had every right to be pissed. For years he had watched from the sidelines as Fury's right hand man pampered to the every whim of the two pieces of scum that called themselves' Agents. Before the little twittering idiot had been brought in, Simon had been the best sniper at SHIELD. He had been the one they called when they wanted a mission done right! He had been the one that was respected by the entire organization!

Glancing back at the arrow sticking out of the dead body like a bold flag for all to see, Geoff felt his sneer deepen. Barton took what was rightfully his...

"You will do as instructed Agent Geoff," Coulson's unshakable voice grounded into his skull. "And then once this is over, your team will report to the Hellicarrier for a debriefing. Is that clear?"

Knowing that now was not the time or place, Geoff nodded sharply. Hazel eyes watched as the shorter man bowed his head in return before pivoting on the heel and storming back into the fray, Geoff silently motioned for his in place team members to stay in position until he motioned otherwise.

* * *

The number of lives passing through her hands was to the point that she had long since lost count. Not bothering to watch as the life drained from yet another person in her grasp, Natasha glanced around her surroundings, desperate to find the one of the few people that mattered in all of this.

"C'mon," she muttered, quickly becoming frustrated. "Where are you, you son of a bitch?"

Catching sight of an arrow sailing through the air a foot in front of her, the red head followed its trajectory and almost cried out in delight. Standing behind the man that her partner had just taken down, was none other than the Leader of this camp, and Leader of the Ten Rings. Dropping the corpse onto the ground, Natasha kept her gaze on the frantically packing man, and opened her com-link.

"Tony?"

"_What is it Natalie? I'm kinda in the middle of something."_

Brushing off the use of her pseudo-name, the red head let the corners of her lips switch slightly upward. "I found him."

Static silence filled the link at her words were processed by not only the billionaire genius, but the rest of the team, but the back-up crew she had seen get into place as well.

"_Can you safely obtain him?"_ Steve's voice finally echoed through, shattering the heavy silence.

"_No."_

The answer was not from her, but from the brunette leading the mission. Having already had this conversation with the billionaire, Natasha knew that no-one else was going to get between Stark and his prey, so she simply waited for the oncoming argument; her eyes never leaving the Leader as he scurried around grabbing items.

"_Tony if Natasha has a clear shot-"_

"_No. That bastard killed my friend, kidnapped me and tortured my husband. No-one touches him except me."_

Silence filled the com-link once more. Watching as the bald headed man started towards the jeeps, Natasha slipped into a shadow and started to follow. "He's on the move."

The silent battle of the Wills continued to rage through the radio waves until suddenly Coulson's ever stable tone rang through. _"Pull him out into the open Stark. If we need to give you back up, I'd rather it not be near anything flammable."_

"_Roger that Agent. Where is he Nat?"_

"Heading towards the south side of the car park."

"_I'm on my way."_

* * *

Time slowed, and sped, and blurred as the brunette weapon's designer made his way across the rain soaked compound; flecks of mud splattering the back of his jeans with each step. Taking no notice of the red and white shield as it sang through the air in front of him, nor the blot of lighting to his left as it lit up the power station, Tony kept his mind and his eyes narrowed only upon the light at the end of the tunnel, and the man that was standing at the end of it.

"Tony, hurry up! He's leaving!"

Forcing his already abused muscles to go faster, brown eyes widened as his boots lost traction on the muddy ground, and swept out from underneath him. Watching as the dark brown mess came to meet him, Tony did not dare close his eyes instead focusing on the pile of barrels and crates currently hiding his goal from his gaze. Barely registering the mud and rain that now caked his body, the engineer screamed at his arms and legs. This was not the way that it was going to end. Raza was not going to get away this time.

Letting out an inhuman growl of frustration and desperation, two lightly toned built arms prised way under his chest and with a sudden strike of adrenalin, pushed the tiring body back up onto its feet. Not bothering to take a minute to breathe, Tony compelled his feet to once again start moving.

With each step, the brunette could feel a great force attempting to drag him back. Steps were becoming sluggish and harder to make, yet the last Stark refused to give up.

"I will not let him win," he muttered, not realising that the com link was still open. "Not this time. This ends now."

Grabbing onto the corner of a crate to help balance his feet on the slippery mud, Tony suddenly felt the air shift once more and the force pulling him back disappear. Taking a deep breath, the billionaire took a second to straighten his back, before round the corner and facing the man that had started it all.

"Raza!"

Half hanging out of a cargo truck, the bald headed man stilled at the sound of his name. The brunette could tell from the way that the man stood there, that he had not expected to be found; at least, not until he was fully in the truck. Lowering his feet back on to the ground, Raza closed the truck's door before turning around and facing the super hero he had help create.

"Stark," The smile on the Leader's face was anything but comforting. Filled with cold eyes and sharp teeth, Tony had the distinct feeling that the man was a rather large predator, and he, was the prey. "I thought that you would have followed your husband into the forest. Does he mean so little to you?"

Not rising to the bait, Tony kept his tone neutral as he answered. "Just because I'm not there doesn't mean that the situation isn't being taken care of. Besides, you and I have unfinished business."

Nodding in agreement, Raza took a step forward; grinning as he caught sight of the tension build in the billionaire's shoulders. "So we do Mr Stark, so we do."

The sky fell around them as the light shower worsened until even the worst monsoon season would be green with envy.

Not taking his eyes off the bald headed man, Tony called out. "You know that there is only one way that this is going to end."

"With my head on a silver platter?" Taking another step forward, Raza spread his arms wide and laughed out into the night. "You are without your suit, Iron Man, and the gun in your hand is useless without bullets. Tell me, how will you win when you have no weapon to hide behind?"

"I don't need a weapon. I will win, and it will be by my own hand."

The sudden bolt of lightening was like a signal, as the pair took part in their own little show down. Racing towards the other before the light could even fully leave the sky, the pair lifted their arms and aimed for the other's face. Feeling his fist connect with the man's cheek bone as he ducked the fist heading his way, Tony pulled back to land another hit, missing the foot swinging around to take out his left side.

CRACK.

Pain flared through his body as his rib shattered under the hit. Refusing to let out any more than a pain filled grunt, Tony lost his concentration for one vital second, and immediately wished he hadn't.

SNAP.

"You should have just made me that bomb Mr Stark," Raza spat, lowering the knee that he had forced the brunette's face into, successfully breaking his nose. "If you had, then we wouldn't be here. Your husband wouldn't be under my control. But you didn't! It is you who will die here tonight Mr Stark, and once I move onto my next base, I think that I will turn your little love into my personal slave, just to spite your memory. I will take great pleasure in breaking him, and when he no longer remembers your name, I will fuck him until he is screaming out mine."

Seeing red as the mental images of Raza touching his little green eyed wizard penetrated his mind, Tony pushed his body back off the ground that it had landed on when his nose had broken. Using the momentum to his advantage, the brunette lunged at the smirking Arab, pushing them both back down onto the ground.

Attempting to find some purchase on the squirming body above him, Raza for the first time since their little game had started, truly feared for his life. Grabbing onto the engineer's side, the Arab attempted to flip them over so that he would be on top, but was stopped by a right hook to the jaw. Not given time to recover, Raza felt another, and another, and another land on his body.

He knew that he had to stop, that the man should go into SHIELD custody and be taken care of by Fury and Coulson; but he just couldn't. This man was responsible for so much, and no-one but Tony himself was going to give him his final sentence. Not after everything that he had been put through because of him. Feeling the body below him become still and lacking any fight, the brunette glanced down at the barely alive Leader. Dark brown eyes stared up at him from slitted eyes, the bruises and swelling already taking effect on the abused body of the once feared Leader.

Knowing that he couldn't go on for much longer, Tony lowered his head so that his lips were align the shell of Raza's ear. "You will never touch my husband or anyone I love again. You will die right here, right now; and you will die with the knowledge that you lost."

Watching as the man gasped up at him, his eyes filling with fear and anger, Tony grabbed each side of Raza's head and breathed deeply.

"See you in hell."

* * *

The rain continued to bucket down as the team made their way towards a chopper waiting off to the side lines for them. There were still a few men running around and fires to be put out that the weather couldn't reach, but as far as any of them were concerned, that was the back-up team's problem now.

The death of Raza had not been as private as Tony had hoped. After rolling off the dead body, the billionaire had been immediately hulled to his feet by Thor and Steve whilst Coulson had watched on. No-one had dared say a word as they had regrouped, but once the brunette had heard his voice echo in the com-link, he knew that the rest of the team had heard his last words to his personal devil.

"Clint Francis Barton! What have you done to your leg?"

Glancing over to where the archer was being coddled by the master assassin, Tony raised an eyebrow at the scene, but decided that now wasn't the best time to say anything; not while he still had the look on Raza's face as he snapped his neck still fresh in his mind.

"What's the matter Barton? Can't take a little scratch?"

The sudden tension in the three official SHIELD agents caught the attention of the other three Avengers. Glancing over at the bulky blonde agent making his way towards them, Tony knew that he was the one that spoke. Seeing Steve and Thor subtly lift their weapons in preparation in the corner of his eye, the brunette let his body relax against the side of the chopper once more as he took in the show.

"Was there something you needed Agent Geoff?" Ah, Coulson. Ever the diplomat.

Ignoring the superior Agent, Geoff made his way further towards Clint and Natasha, a massive grin on his face as he did so. "I mean, I knew that you were soft Barton, being a carnie freak and all that, but seriously? Does she put out too, or did Fury let you keep her so that he could save on medical costs?"

No-one had seen her move. Lashing out quicker than Thor and Steve could even step forward, Natasha had the man twice her size pinned to the ground with a black eye and knife held to his most sensitive region.

Eyeing the pair on the ground and the amused archer staring down at them, Steve glanced over at his hopeful lover in question as to if he should interfere, but after catching a slight shake of the head, lowered his shield and turned back to watch; Thor quick to follow.

Digging the blade into the man's pants, Natasha waited until she received a frightened whimper before staring down at her prey and growling. "If I ever hear you say a word about Hawkeye or any of my team again, I will cut your balls off and use them as decorations on my Christmas tree. Am I understood?"

Feeling the blade a little too close to said parts, Geoff quickly nodded in acceptance. Watching as the idiot squirmed uncomfortably below her, Natasha dug the knife in one more time, before letting the man stand back up and shuffle away from her.

"I will not be threatened by some psycho bitch Coulson!" Geoff shouted out, pointing at said smirking psycho bitch and missing the glares from every other member of the Avengers as he did so. "This will be reported when I'm debriefed, and I will demand that she gets pulled from SHIELD and chucked into the fucking detention centre like she should have been in the first fucking place!"

Not at all liking the idiot in front of him, Tony stepped forward, filling the gap that was left between the Agents and Stave and Thor. "I don't know what world you've been living in, Agent," the brunette sneered. "But in case you haven't noticed, Agent Romanoff is no longer under the control of SHIELD."

Frowning, Geoff pointed at her suit and more importantly, the SHIELD logo. "Then what do you call that genius?"

Glancing over at said logo, Tony rolled his eyes and shrugged. "A simple case of necessity. I have yet to finish Agent's Romanoff and Barton's new outfits, and we were on a strict dead line for this mission."

"SHIELD would never just give up those two. Their options when they arrived, was join or jail-"

"SHIELD has no say in this." Ignoring the glances he knew he was receiving from everyone; Natasha and Phil a little less obviously, Tony kept his sights sorely on the dick in front of him and the problem at hand. "Nick Fury and Agent Coulson created the Avenger's Initiative, however it was vetoed by the Council before any of the members were contacted. All members were brought in simply as consultants, and formed the team on their own terms. They are currently living on Avenger's land, being paid by a source other than SHIELD, and any equipment being used by them, is provided by the Stark Industry. Agents Romanoff and Barton filed their resignment as full time Agents for SHIELD before the battle of New York, so any complaint that you make to your higher ups is more or less a waste of paper."

Gapping at the billionaire, the blonde Agent attempted to come up with some form of a comeback, but was halted as a loud crashing sound made itself known from off in the forest. Rounding on the direction that the sound came from, the team watch with a mixture of relief and happiness as Hulk blundered his way out of the darkness.

Forgetting about the dumbass he had just schooled, Tony led the rest of the team on a race across the compound. "Hulk!"

Staring around wildly for a sign of anyone he knew, the Hulk smiled widely as he caught sight of the group racing towards him. Striding forward, the green giant stopped just as he came level with the group of mismatched heroes, and pulled what looked like a fur pelt off his shoulder. "Wolf no wake."

Reaching up, Thor took what he now recognised as Moony from the Hulk's meaty palm and cradled the limp wolf to his broad chest. "Fear not, friend Hulk, I will make sure that the brave wolf gets the assistance he requires."

Grunting, Hulk nodded down at the Norse god, before turning to the worried Tin Man. Trying to smile reassuringly, Hulk lowered the arm he had kept cradled to his chest, and showed the metal man his treasure.

Glancing down at the frail body of his beloved Harry, Tony felt his eyes well up at the sight. Reaching forward, the brunette took no notice of the people around him or the place they were in, and just held his husband as close as he physically could, his warmth and steady heartbeat reassuring him like nothing else could.

They had done it.

They had saved Harry.

He was much thinner of course, and Tony knew that there would be scars both physical and mental that they would have to work through together, but the fact remained that his husband was back and Tony was never letting him go again. Glancing up at the rest of the team as they circled around the couple with massive grins and happy tears, Tony eyed each and every one of his new family, and felt his face split in two.

"Let's go home."

* * *

_Sharp clicks rang through the large empty space, as the sharp edged man made his way through the shed._

_"You better have good news for me. I'm growing tired of waiting."_

_Glancing up at the new arrival, a shaky hand ran through normally stylized hair as the man went back to what he was originally working on. "If you had kept Pym on, this wouldn't be taking nearly as long."_

_"Pym was a loose end that had to be taken care of before he unwound the entire tapestry."_

_"Pym was a genius and liked to code his work in such a way that you need to be Sherlock Holmes to figure it out."_

_Glaring up at the unshaven, distressed looking Justin Hammer, General Ross forced down the sneer that threatened to encompass his face at the man's less than stellar appearance, the man made his way closer to the robot shells littering the floor. "How much longer, Hammer? You said three months, it's been two."_

_Putting down the wrench he had been using, Hammer picked up a dirty rag from the side table and used it to wipe his greasy hands. "You can't rush art General," he reprimanded, sighing loudly as his neck popped back into place. "I have my best men working on it as we speak, and the first prototypes will be fully functional as promised, when promised."_

_Kicking the chest cavity one more time for good measure, the General nodded his head in satisfaction before making his way back to the hanger door._

_"By the end of the month Hammer! Or I'll use you as our next lab rat."_

* * *

**Sorry for the long down period, there was just so many assignments! However, now that I'm on holidays hopefully I'll get to upload more. This signals the end of "The Difference working together makes"! Yay! I feel like dancing! The next chapter in the series will continue on from when the Avengers return home, and will finally introduce the side story I've had going here into the main plot. There will be laughter, there will be tears, and there will be a ton load more of explosions! So keep your eyes out!**

**Hard Headed Woman.**

**PS- Just a quick thanks to everyone that has followed this story, or better yet replied. It always lightens my day to see how much you enjoy what I write no matter how bad I may accidently go off the emotional deep end. Cheers!**


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